And Submersible ship used to take tourists to see the wreckage of the Titanic in the North Atlantic was declared missing, prompting a search and rescue operation, the US Coast Guard said Monday. It was not immediately known how many people are on the boat, which is operated by a company called OceanGate Expeditionsbut a British airman is believed to be on board.
The OceanGate company -which operates since 2015 in three oceans at depths of almost 500 meters- organize these luxury excursions which lasted ten days and included eight days at sea. Those interested paid 250,000 dollars to travel in the submersible called “Titan”.
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The company offers to get up close and personal with the Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank in 1912 during its maiden voyage from England to New York with 2,224 passengers and crew on board. More than 1,500 people died in the tragedy.
The wreckage lies in two main pieces 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, some 3,900 meters underwater.. It was found in 1985 and continues to be a source of fascination and an attraction for nautical experts and underwater tourists.
Titan was built and designed with an aerospace-grade carbon fiber hull coupled with titanium end caps and a canopy following the advice of the Titan’s engineering team. Marshall Space Flight Center from NASA.
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It features a filament-wound carbon fiber hull, the largest of any manned submersible, and two titanium hemispheres. The front dome hinges serve as an access hatch for easy entry and exit, which also it has the largest viewing window of any deep-sea manned submersible.
Titan also features a fiberglass hull to prevent condensation from dripping on the crew and to eliminate electrical ground faults, plus a real-time hull health monitoring system, meaning it’s possible to analyze the effects of pressure change on the vessel as the submersible is submerged deeper and accurately assess the integrity of the structure.
The health analysis monitoring system on board is intended to provide detection of early warning to the pilot in plenty of time to stop the descent and return to the surface in a safe way.
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How big is the submersible?
The dimensions of the boat are 6.70 mx 2.80 mx 2.50 m, and it is capable of descending to depths of 4,000 meters. The ship weighs 10,432 kg and can travel at a maximum speed of 3 knotswhich is created by four Innerspace 1002 electric thrusters.
It has a camera Sub C Imaging 4k Rayfina probe Teledyne 2D40,000 lumens of external light and a laser scanner 2G Robotics.
The control pods for the electronics and thrusters are housed outside the pressurized hull to increase the space available for the crew and equipment on board. It also has a bathroom on board, which offers little privacy to guests since it is right next to the window.
How is Titan controlled?
The ship is controlled by a hardened Playstation controller, although it does not have a GPS system and is guided by text messages sent by a team on the water. He communicates with the tracking and communications team at the top via text messages that are exchanged over a USBL (ultra-short baseline line) acoustic system.
A large digital screen broadcasts a live feed from multiple exterior 4K cameras and also acts as a door to the aft equipment compartment.
What is the launch and recovery pad?
Titan must be launched from a recovery platform, which has tanks used to sink and resurface the vessel, which means that no need for a large support ship or crane in coastal waters.
The platform floods its flotation tanks with water for a controlled descent to a depth of 9.1 meters to avoid any turbulence on the surface.
Once submerged, platform uses a patented floatation system that cushions movement to stay attached to the surface and still provide a stable underwater platform.
At the end of each dive, the submarine lands on the submerged platform and the entire system surfaces in approximately two minutes filling the ballast tanks with air. Once they reach the surface, there is no way out, as those inside are locked with 17 bolts from the outside..
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How long do the expeditions last?
Dives on the Titan can last up to 10 hours eachand participants spend a total of 10 days at sea aboard a larger ship.
This was explained in an interview by the CEO of the company, Stockton Rush, who said that his submarines have a capacity for 5 people and can go to the depths of the Titanic, which is half the depth of the ocean.
“There are no switches or things to bump into, we have a button to turn it on,” he explained. “Everything else is done with touch screens and computers, so you really become part of the vehicle and everyone gets to know each other pretty well.”
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