Posted on 06/21/2023 8:09:26 AM PDT by Red Badger
Any thoughts on why they apparently waited 8 hours after losing all contact with the submersible before contacting the US Coast Guard for help?
surprised Elon hasn’t offered something- He offered something when folks were trapped in a flooded caving system back awhile- some kind of sub or something to get folks out with if i recall right-
That's an interesting discussion involving the word "imploded". For underwater vehicles (submaries/submersibles), I've heard it proposed that what happens is that rather than a complete structural failure, the weakest thru-hull fitting gives way and the vessel floods rapidly and the pressure on the hull becomes equal inside and outside. That having been accomplished, the pressure hull suffers no further damage. This scenario is rather different than being "crushed" like an aluminum can underfoot.
For example, in 1974 the Soviet sub K-129 was lost in the Pacific at a depth of 16,000 feet (4,900 m). A large section was relatively intact. The CIA-sponsored Glomar Explorer was able to attach to that portion of it and begin a lift. Because some of the lift gear broke, only at that time did the portion being lifted break in half. Ironically, the wiki article cited below uses the word "implosion".
If this little vessel can be found, and it's still intact, then it could be lifted. But not in time to save anyone.
You beat me to it.
Clive Cussler would never have gone down in that thing.
This is way beyond that type of craft. He probably would if he could, though.........
The front dome of the sub is titanium...............
I’m trying to imagine where one goes to buy a 12,000-foot long oxygen hose.
Sub is actually constructed from mixture of titanium and carbon fiber. From what I understand “tube” is carbon fiber but “end caps” are titanium.
My understanding is that the loss of contact during the descent was "normal" (or at least "not unexpected") ... and it wasn't considered a problem until the vessel failed to re-establish contact hours later on what should have been its ascent to the surface.
Yeah true- Unfortunately there’s Not a lot of hope for the folks in the sub I’m thinking- Running out of air seems like it woudl be a terrible way to go as the body and mind panic over and over and over due to loss of oxygen near the end of it-
Hope someone can rescue them- sure woudl be something if they can
If they did all survive whatever initial incident happened that cut communications and trapped them, I can only imagine the conversations in the darkness, cold, panicky, air going bad, the good snacks all gone, and limited battery power to run CO2 scrubbers or provide heat or lighting. And even if they have surfaced without power somewhere nearby, unless they are spotted, they will still suffocate because the only escape route is the in/out hatch secured by 17 bolts that fasten from the outside. Gruesome.
Yes, I have heard something like that as well. Maybe that is what happened. Even so, it would be a miracle if they found that little sub, even if it is still intact.
Thanks, I understand better now. I read the CEO had said that spending excessively on safety is a waste at some point; that if you really want to be safe, stay home in bed.
In such a terrible situation, I wonder if the survivors start thinking about how much air and if anyone should “volunteer” to stop breathing to give the rest a better chance or more time to live, at least? I wonder if there is any precedent in history, late revealed by survivors who were rescued? Like the Rugby team that crashed their plane in the Andes mountains and cannibalized the bodies to try to live.
They aren’t using any oxygen, and haven’t been since contact was lost. That thing imploded, and the people in it were all dead in a fraction of a second back on Sunday.
^^^This + 1
I was up early taking my boys to a soccer game when we saw the Columbia burning up as it crossed over North Texas. A couple of us knew the ship was returning home that morning but no one snapped to what was really happening. Eerie ...
Probably dead from hypothermia.
And it also presupposed that the craft has an external fitting for an oxygen hose and that it is technically feasible to pump oxygen at an external pressure of 400 atmospheres without causing implosion of the craft.
The whole thing is ridiculous.
I know that this s a serious situation that it may be inappropriate to make light of but when I read:
“I can only imagine the conversations in the darkness, cold, panicky, air going bad, the good snacks all gone”
I almost lost it.
We have no power. It’s pitch black. We are running out of oxygen. We are 14,000 under the sea with almost no hope of rescue. If that was not bad enough, we are out of all the good snacks. Who ate all the ******g Slim Jims!?!?
Because everybody knew they were dead. Their lawyers probably told them to look like they were trying.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.