Posted on 06/20/2023 6:40:43 AM PDT by Red Badger
The desperate search for a missing submersible that vanished during a mission to explore the wreck of the Titanic continued on Tuesday as more information about those onboard came to light.
The submersible, which is part of an OceanGate Expeditions tour that offers passengers a once-in-a-lifetime experience to explore the Titanic wreckage, went missing on Sunday after losing contact with the research vessel Polar Prince.
British billionaire and owner of Action Aviation Hamish Harding was among the five people onboard the vessel, along with prominent Pakistani businessman, Shahzada Dawood, and his son, Suleman. The other two people onboard have yet to be identified.
Submersible was operated with a video game controller - Marlene Lenthang
Titan, the missing tourist submersible was operated by a video game controller and had parts that were described as “off-the-shelf components.”
During a tour of the vessel in a CBS News segment aired in November, OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush pointed out some of these unexpected features including a light fixture from CamperWorld and a makeshift toilet with a plastic bottle.
He brought out a Logitech game controller saying, “we run the whole thing with this.” It was not immediately clear whether the submersible was operated with such a controller during the latest mission.
OceanGate’s website describes the five-person submersible as a combination of “ground-breaking engineering and off-the-shelf technology,” the latter of which “helped to streamline the construction, and makes it simple to operate and replace parts in the field.”
Thoughts of crew and their families driving search efforts - Marlene Lenthang
In the desperate search for the missing vessel touring the shipwreck of the Titanic deep in the Atlantic, crews are thinking of the lives of the five people on board first and foremost.
“The thoughts of the crew members and their families really drive our crews forward and all of the partners that have been working this complex case to make sure we can continue to find them,” Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said Tuesday morning on NBC's "TODAY" show.
Factors such as oxygen levels, intense water pressure, and the remoteness of the area make the search difficult.
The ship went down Sunday with four days worth of oxygen. The wreckage of the Titanic is also at a depth of 13,000 feet — too deep for typical U.S. Navy subs, which typically go down to 2,000 or 3,000 feet, to descend to.
Canadian aircraft dropped a sonar buoy into the ocean listening for tapping or talking in an effort to pinpoint the submersible.
1h ago / 7:37 AM CDT OceanGate Expeditions leading underwater search - Marlene Lenthang
OceanGate Expeditions is leading the underwater search for the missing Titanic tourist submersible because the deep-water exploration company “know[s] that site better than anybody else,” Rear Adm. John Mauger with the Coast Guard said on NBC's “TODAY” show Tuesday morning.
As the search for the 21-foot submersible entered the third day, Mauger said search crews have an “understanding” of where the submersible was operating and searches are being prioritized in those areas.
The wreckage of the Titanic sits 900 nautical miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Searches are underway with equipment the Coast Guard has brought to the area. The agency's current focus is on getting more assets and technical experts to the scene as fast as possible.
2h ago / 6:58 AM CDT What did the Titanic expedition set out to achieve? - Chantal Da Silva
The submersible that disappeared Sunday was on only its third trip since OceanGate Expeditions began offering them in 2021.
On its website, the company said the expeditions are intended to "further document the Titanic and its rate of decay."
"Given the massive scale of the wreck and the debris field, multiple missions performed over several years will be required to fully document and model the wreck site," it says. "This longitudinal survey to collect images, videos, laser, and sonar data will allow objective assessment of the rate of decay and documentation of the process."
"Qualified explorers have the opportunity to join the expedition as Mission Specialist crewmembers whose Training and Mission Support Fees underwrite the mission, the participation of the science team, and their own training," the company states.
Half a million would have gone a long way to repair homes in Mississippi...
For sure! One wrench in the plan and all is lost?
Madness.
The descent and return was to take about 8 hours, so it would have been back up by now. I would imagine ships and planes are combing the nearby surface in case that’s what happened.
Maybe the two deep states are actually one, and, the same.
Your bucket list isn’t a list of things to see and do before you die.
It’s a list of things that are going to kill you.
Skydiving, Everest, Titanic ...
Here’s mine: The wreck of the Titanic lies at a depth of about 12,500 feet (3,800 metres; 2,100 fathoms)
12,500 ft PSI 5412.5
Ah. I used 13,000.
Bungee jumping, snowboarding, voting Democrat...................
“..and had parts that were described as “off-the-shelf components.”..”
From K mart, Radio Shack, Dime Store etc.
Hypoxia.
Requiesce in pace.
Even if it surfaced, they couldn’t open it themselves, Correct?
Any leak developed would mean quick death. The sub is pressurized to 14.7 psi. The water at 12,500 feet is greater than 5,000 psi.
I read it costs $250,000 per pop to go down and see it for yourself.
Compression explosion would be instantaneous...........
Yes, that is correct.
China
The biggest worry is they'll run out of air. There's no way to get out of there without someone from outside doing it.
On anything larger than a tiny pinhole, I agree. If there was a catastrophic failure of a seal, they would be turned to jelly almost instantly.
What a living nightmare. God, have mercy.
Sudden, catastrophic implosion seems the most likely scenario. At least they died quickly.
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