We now know that the Titan submersible's carbon fiber hull basically exploded
You probably know that carbon fiber is prone to randomly shattering
So WHY did they use it for the Titan?
Fortunately, they wrote an article about why!
It starts with this guy:
You probably know that carbon fiber is prone to randomly shattering
So WHY did they use it for the Titan?
Fortunately, they wrote an article about why!
It starts with this guy:
Steve Fossett was an ACTUAL adventurer
He made the first balloon flight around the world; first solo flight around the world; fastest sail trip around the world; and records in skiing, mountain climbing, Le Mans, and even the Iditarod!
He was funded by Richard Branson
He made the first balloon flight around the world; first solo flight around the world; fastest sail trip around the world; and records in skiing, mountain climbing, Le Mans, and even the Iditarod!
He was funded by Richard Branson
Steve Fossett's last project was top secret
The Deep Flight Challenger was an airplane-like submarine
It was a one-person sub, with wings, made of lightweight carbon fiber like his record-setting planes
And designed to go to the deepest point in the ocean (Challenger Deep)
The Deep Flight Challenger was an airplane-like submarine
It was a one-person sub, with wings, made of lightweight carbon fiber like his record-setting planes
And designed to go to the deepest point in the ocean (Challenger Deep)
For an aviator, making an airplane-like submarine likely made sense
Because it's very lightweight, it achieves neutral buoyancy in the water on its own -- without layers and layers of bulky foam
It can literally FLY underwater
Because it's very lightweight, it achieves neutral buoyancy in the water on its own -- without layers and layers of bulky foam
It can literally FLY underwater
But Steve Fossett disappeared in 2007, while flying his small plane over Nevada. This spurred the largest hunt for a missing person in history, involving dozens of planes, satellites, crowdsourced volunteers pouring over images, and even psychics
The search was so thorough that they found eight OTHER plane crashes while looking for Fossett!
It a year and millions of dollars to find Fossett's wreck -- it appears he crashed into a steep ridge, his locator beacon failed, and he stumbled about half a mile away before dying
It a year and millions of dollars to find Fossett's wreck -- it appears he crashed into a steep ridge, his locator beacon failed, and he stumbled about half a mile away before dying
After Fossett died, the DeepFlight Challenger was acquired by Richard Branson's new company Virgin Oceanic
He wanted to commercialized it
But here's the important thing:
THE DEEPFLIGHT CHALLENGER WAS MADE FOR ONE TRIP ONLY
That's what Fossett thought was safe with carbon fiber
He wanted to commercialized it
But here's the important thing:
THE DEEPFLIGHT CHALLENGER WAS MADE FOR ONE TRIP ONLY
That's what Fossett thought was safe with carbon fiber
In 2014, Branson gave up on commercializing DeepFlight Challenger for this reason ...
But that's around the time fellow adventurer Stockton Rush starts working on his second submarine, the "Cyclops 2"
telegraph.co.uk
But that's around the time fellow adventurer Stockton Rush starts working on his second submarine, the "Cyclops 2"
telegraph.co.uk
(He had already built the Cyclops 1 out of conventional materials)
Rush contracts with Spencer Composites, an aerospace carbon fiber manufacturer, to design the Cyclops 2 hull... *IN ONLY SIX WEEKS*
(This article is very detailed)
compositesworld.com
Rush contracts with Spencer Composites, an aerospace carbon fiber manufacturer, to design the Cyclops 2 hull... *IN ONLY SIX WEEKS*
(This article is very detailed)
compositesworld.com
Not coincidentally, Spencer Composites ALSO made the hull for the DeepFlight Challenger
But the Cyclops 2 didn't fly around like a plane. So why use carbon fiber at all?
Well, it meant it could be cheaper, and portable, and hold 5 people rather than the usual 1-3
But the Cyclops 2 didn't fly around like a plane. So why use carbon fiber at all?
Well, it meant it could be cheaper, and portable, and hold 5 people rather than the usual 1-3
Ok, so Rush isn't a complete idiot, he knows that the carbon fiber is going to get weaker on every dive
So he invents the Acoustic Real-time Monitoring System
During descent, a computer sends acoustic pings to 20 sensors through the carbon-fiber hull, to detect weakness
So he invents the Acoustic Real-time Monitoring System
During descent, a computer sends acoustic pings to 20 sensors through the carbon-fiber hull, to detect weakness
The idea was the submarine would stop every hour or two on its descent. The computer would measure the integrity of the hull. If if seemed like it was failing, the pilot would take it up to safer waters.
(The patent is in Rush's name alone -- he didn't have a lot of engineers.)
(The patent is in Rush's name alone -- he didn't have a lot of engineers.)
So what happened? Either the monitoring system failed, or it worked and for some reason they didn't ascend in time.
We'll probably never know. And there will probably never be another carbon fiber sub after this disaster.
We'll probably never know. And there will probably never be another carbon fiber sub after this disaster.
Some good threads from people who actually work on this stuff (not me)
Cyclops was in Subnautica???
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