Titanic Sub Missing

[Oliver K]

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I was absolutely gobsmacked when i realized they use game controllers, that's just not the thing you should use for a mission critical application like this, you can't even drive in a straight line with one in games that have unfiltered input (i.e BeamNG.drive)

 

[Oliver K]

I just need to spend a moment to say how much of a neutral place this is, as this has reached world news, the internet is now full of speculation and assumptions, there's absolutely none of that on here.

Unfortunatly pretty much everyone i know is joining in with the speculation.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

I was absolutely gobsmacked when i realized they use game controllers, that's just not the thing you should use for a mission critical application like this

Likewise. I'm no gamer, but if that device fails (which is what could have happened) is there some sort of back-up?

I would have thought that at $250,000 a head they would have something more reliable. I was upset by all those posts telling us about how these vehicles have had problems from the start; that is not very encouraging. I cannot help imagining myself in the position of those poor people.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

Unfortunatly pretty much everyone i know is joining in with the speculation

I know what you are saying, but that's human nature. Many of us (including me) watch the Mayday programme avidly; we have a morbid streak built into our nature.

That said, unwelcome as it is, speculation cannot hurt them any more in their current situation. Perhaps not in this case, but occasionally speculation can come up with unexpected solutions to a problem.

 

[Oliver K]

Likewise. I'm no gamer, but if that device fails (which is what could have happened) is there some sort of back-up?

I would have thought that at $250,000 a head they would have something more reliable. I was upset by all those posts telling us about how these vehicles have had problems from the start; that is not very encouraging. I cannot help imagining myself in the position of those poor people.

I'm not actually sure and i want to keep speculation to a minimum, but there are so many things that can go wrong with things like xbox controllers, batteries can die, they go out of whack after a while, dodgy USB cables, driver problems, and hardware problems with the controller itself like one i had that just randomly shorted out on the left trigger while playing a game, you get the point.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

The US coast guard will hold a news conference at 1pm EST (1700 GMT) to discuss the search efforts to locate the missing submersible.

That is the latest update on The Guardian live blog. Sounds a bit ominous.

 

[Kiku]

 

[Encyclopedia Titanica]

How the sub might be rescued

Rescuers must comb depths that could reach nearly 4km (2.5 miles) for the 6.7m (22ft) long Titan submersible - because radio and GPS signals can't travel through water.

Sonar buoys, or sonobuoys, detect and identify objects moving in the water - and are often used in the hunt for enemy submarines.

They either listen for sounds produced by propellers and machinery (passive detection) - which could also include the crew making noise against the hull of the sub - or by bouncing a sonar "ping" off the surface of the vessel (active detection) and listening for the returning echo More...

 

[Oliver K]

Seconded on the thing about radio waves, i keep hearing people saying that the sub should have an ELB, what they don't understand is that most radio bands using decently short antennas cannot travel through water, whenever a new waterproof phone or camera comes it's always mentioned in reviews how Wi-Fi and cellular does not function underwater, the only radio band capable of travelling and penetrating water is VLF, but for the antenna to be resonant it would have to be miles long, so it's only used for navigation signals.

 

[Carolyn Winkelmann]

I guess kind of like the Space Shuttles, there have been so many successful missions that many people kind of think “I wonder what discoveries they’ll make this time” rather than “I hope everyone comes back safely” when they hear about one. But every once in awhile you get reminded that this is pretty dangerous.

I don’t know a lot about the technology of this kind of exploration. I’m interested in factual information that might help educate me about what it takes to do such a mission and attempt a rescue. It makes perfect sense to focus on saving lives first. Curiosity can wait!

I hope and pray for the best possible outcome. And I am sorry for the anxiety and sorrow of anyone who is affected, family, friends, colleagues, etc.

 

[George Jacub]

From the Daily Mail:

The craft measures 22 feet in length, with a width of 9.5 feet - . There is no 'door' to get in and out of the vessel.Instead, the passengers are bolted in from the outside before their journey begins with 17 bolts, which begins with the Titan being launched from a recovery platform, which has tanks used to sink and resurface the vessel.
At the conclusion of each dive, the sub is then meant to land on the submerged platform again, and the entire system is brought to the surface in approximately two minutes by filling the ballast tanks with air.
Inside, there are no seats, and passengers sit cross-legged on the floor having left their shoes on the mothership before entering the sub.
While the craft features advanced technology, the space for passengers is mostly bare. There is just one button - to turn the sub on, screens on the wall and a small porthole window at the front for viewing the ocean depths and - should the mission be a success - the Titanic's wreck outside.
The pilot operates the craft with a modified Logitech gaming controller - complete with twin thumbsticks and four colourful buttons, that allows the operator to direct the submarine up and down, left and right, and forwards and backwards.
The sub's electronics and thruster control pods are housed outside the pressure hull to increase the space that is available for crew and equipment onboard.

 

[Encyclopedia Titanica]

CNN: France sends ship with underwater robot to help with search for missing Titanic tour submersible

French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered the dispatch of research ship Atlante to join the international search for the missing Titanic tour sub, the French government announced Tuesday.

More...

 

[Arun Vajpey]

I just saw that David Pogue video and he was very honest and that in itself was not encouraging. One point he said was that they suddenly lost communication with the sub when it was 2/3 of the way down to the Titanic, which is between 8000 and 9000 feet deep. That more or less rules out that the vehicle snagged on something and is trapped; the only other alternative he said was that there could have been a "catastrophic event" like a hull breach and implosion.

 

[Encyclopedia Titanica]

The @uscg will hold a press briefing for the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince missing submersible at 1pm EST. 6pm BST

 

[Oliver K]

I guess kind of like the Space Shuttles, there have been so many successful missions that many people kind of think “I wonder what discoveries they’ll make this time” rather than “I hope everyone comes back safely” when they hear about one. But every once in awhile you get reminded that this is pretty dangerous.

I don’t know a lot about the technology of this kind of exploration. I’m interested in factual information that might help educate me about what it takes to do such a mission and attempt a rescue. It makes perfect sense to focus on saving lives first. Curiosity can wait!

I hope and pray for the best possible outcome. And I am sorry for the anxiety and sorrow of anyone who is affected, family, friends, colleagues, etc.

Yep, it's like when you hear about a car crash, people choose to do dangerous things and accept them as normal, it's only when you hear of an incident or accident when you think twice, the space shuttle was an absolute death trap and that was known even prior to columbia and challenger, i wouldn't be surprised if the same is going to be found out about oceangates subs, honestly, this isn't looking good for oceangate...