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this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2024
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Behind the Bastards did a pretty great two-parter on Stockton Rush, and how a) he completely shit the bed while ignoring all the super-deep-exploration experts, and b) how nature was totally telegraphing to Rush and OceanGate that this submersible is totally not doing it and will end in a spectacular tragedy, only no one else will be down there to watch but the fishes.
The controller wasn't a particularly weak link, though for safety's sake I'd want there to be a redundant spare, and it set up for plug and play. But higher on my priority list would be things like integrity monitors and an emergency way to open the sub from the inside (the hatch was bolted from the outside, and there were no emergency exit measures.
... How do you propose to emergency exit that sub at 1000 meters depth?
I'd say the bigger issue is that he used a carbon fibre body, a material which has great tensile Strength but sucks for this.
They way bigger issue than that is that he glued the metal rear section to the carbon fiber body. Both materials expand and contract differently under pressure, which is not what you want at 3 kilometer deep pressures, especially with multiple descends and ascends. That glue could never keep those materials together, that alone was a disaster waiting to happen
The problem was that if they surfaced away from the support vessel, there was no way to open it to get fresh air. So you could still run out of oxygen and die while floating around on the surface waiting to be found.
Yeah that sounds like less of an issue to me, honestly. That support vessel van be there quick enough, send in airplanes, whatever. You can make a more intricate inside and outside locking mechanism but that'll make your entire submarine a whole lot more expensive