Inside Titanic submarine: What was inside the submersible steered by a video game controller

The US Coast Guard has confirmed that the submersible Titan experienced a “catastrophic implosion” while going underground to visit the Titanic wreck, killing all five passengers on board.

The rescue operation continued beyond the planned deadline for available oxygen supplies before being called off on Thursday when several pieces of Titan were found on the seabed in a “debris field” about 1,600 feet from Titanic’s wreckage. In a comment on this The IndependentOceanGate — the private company offering the expedition for $250,000 per seat — confirmed the five passengers on board the ship are now presumed dead.

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Titanic’s resting place is about 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, at a depth of about 12,500 feet below the surface. Excursions to her usually require a two-hour descent.

Specific details about the Titan, a narrow metal cylinder that housed four passengers and a pilot, emerged shortly after it first went missing on Sunday.

Measurement 22 feet long, 9.2 feet wide and 8.3 feet highThe sub features an aerospace-grade carbon fiber hull with titanium hemispheres at each end, and a fiberglass hull insert to protect passengers and electronics from condensation.

A real-time monitoring system provides an ongoing analysis of the effects of changing pressure on the hull as the craft descends deeper and deeper into the ocean for safety reasons.

The ship weighs a total of 10,432 kg and can cruise at a top speed of three knots, made possible by four Innerspace 1002 electric engines.

The tourists and scientists who normally ride along can look outside through a large viewing window. Your perspective is enhanced by outdoor Sub C Imaging 4k Rayfin cameras that capture the surrounding marine environment in a live feed displayed on a large digital display.

Inside there is little in the way of comfort, but there is a toilet, however privacy is limited as it is right next to the viewing window.

Most amazingly, the vehicle is controlled by a generic video game controller — one, to be precise Logitech F710 Wireless PC Gamepad according to gaming expert Matthew Ruddle in 2011 – and instead of using a GPS to navigate, it communicates via text messages with a tracking team aboard a surface vessel, in this case the Polar Prince.

A clip of one CBS Sunday morning A November 2022 featurette about the submarine that went viral in the face of this week’s disaster shows OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who was on board the vessel that imploded after it disappeared on Sunday, and cheerfully points to handles that indicate attached to the ceiling of the boat he says he bought from Camper World but denied that the ship was “MacGyvered” or “Jerry-rigged”.

“There are no switches and things to bump into, we have a button to turn it on,” Mr Rush told reporter David Pogue.

“Everything else is done via touchscreens and computers, so you really become part of the vehicle and everyone gets to know everyone pretty well.”

The Titan was reportedly built with the help of a team of engineering consultants from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, who provided advice during the development phase.

Speaking to GB News on Tuesday morning, David Scott-Beddard, Chairman of the British Titanic Society, detailed how unique the company’s offering is, stating: “The OceanGate Titan, this dedicated submersible, is the only one currently available for commercial exploitation .” Deployment capable of taking passengers to the wreck… It is one of only five submersibles capable of reaching this depth.”

Similarly, G Michael Harris, a Titanic specialist expedition leader who said he previously worked with the wrecked Titan’s pilot, told Jesse Waters on Fox News, “More people have been in space than at this depth of the ocean and when you.” .” When diving in situations like this, you have to cross your nuts and bolts, you have to have everything absolutely perfect and stick to the regulations… Add to that a few tourists and a new submarine that’s popped up in recent years emerged…it doesn’t look good.”

The experience of being a passenger on the Titan was recounted by New Yorker Mike Reiss, who said he made three dives with it BBC breakfast that the submarine “is a beautifully designed ship, I can’t belittle it, but it’s meant to go deeper than any other ship can go… When it’s all the way down, I don’t know how anyone will fare.” able to access it, let alone recall it.

He continued, “The phrase we keep hearing is ‘You’ve lost communications’ and I have to say I’ve done three different dives, one dive to the Titanic and two more off the coast of New York, and each one Sometimes they lost.” Communication.

“And that’s not to say it’s a bad ship or anything. It’s just that this is a whole new technology and you’ll learn it over time.

“You have to remember the early days of the space program or aviation, when you just made a lot of mistakes trying to figure out what you’re doing.”

Aboard Titan were OceanGate Expeditions founder and CEO Stockton Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, famed French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman. All five passengers are presumed dead after debris was discovered on Thursday.

The Coast Guard says the ROVs will remain in place, but that they will begin stripping the equipment in the next 48 hours.

“It’s an incredibly unforgiving environment out there on the ocean floor. The debris is consistent with the ship’s catastrophic implosion. We will continue to work and scan the area down there, but I don’t have an answer on the prospects at this time,” said US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger.

The rear admiral said that the sonar buoys had been in the water for the past 72 hours and that they had not detected any sign of an implosion, suggesting that it occurred early in the dive.