[DCBryan1]

Either the carbon fiber was the fatal flaw or the 17 bolts that screwed into the titanium and into the carbon fiber.

[Campion]

There were no bolts screwed into the carbon fiber. The titanium endcaps were bolted onto titanium rings, which were glued (!) to the steel (?) cylinder, which was reinforced with carbon fiber "tape" wrapped around it.

My understanding is that wound carbon fiber performs great under tension (== it holds pressure _inside_) but poorly under compression (== keeping pressure out). I'm kind of amazed that the vehicle performed as well as it did.