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Waiting for the Space program with rich people to blow up at some point in time.
Titanic tourist sub goes missing in Atlantic Ocean, June 2023 #4
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Waiting for the Space program with rich people to blow up at some point in time.
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It's going to happen. You're strapping yourself to a bomb, and it doesn't take much for it all to go sideways. You just have to have a passing knowledge of the US Space Program to know that it doesn't go wrong in a little way. Apollo 13 actually getting back to earth intact was incredibly unlikely. A bit like the miracle on the Hudson.
MOO
Wow, I certainly hope not.
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Background information of the Titan. Includes development history, hull development, prior tests, previous dives, etc..
Traveling into space is inherently dangerous. We've seen fatalities in the past and I'm sure we'll see them in the future.
Having said that, everything I've heard is that the people doing this are very meticulous and careful. They use well-established engineering principles and they work with NASA and other organizations to certify their designs.
They may make mistakes, but I don't think anything they do would compare to the fly-by-night attitude of OceanGate, using untested and unapproved materials to build their craft, and refusing to listen to outside experts. That was just pure stupidity and hubris.
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Tony Nissen, OceanGate's former engineering director, testified at a Coast Guard hearing Monday that he was fired after he expressed concerns about the Titan submersible and refused to greenlight a planned expedition. He said he felt pressured by OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush to get the vessel ready to dive, the AP reports. Nissen, the hearing's first witness, testified that Rush wanted him to pilot missions to the wreck of the Titanic, but he refused. "I told him, 'I'm not getting in it,'" Nissen said. He said he didn't trust the operations crew, "but I didn't trust Stockton either," reports NBC News.
Nissen was hired in 2016 and fired in 2019, four years before the submersible imploded, killing Rush and four others. He testified that Rush was difficult to work for and that most people "would eventually back down" to him. Nissen said the experimental submersible's hull may have been compromised when it was hit by lightning in 2018, the AP reports. Investigators revealed Monday that there had been dozens of problems in earlier Titan expedition, including 70 in 2021, reports the New York Times.
Less than a month before the doomed June 18, 2023, mission, the Titan, which had been stored outside in Newfoundland with no protection from the elements, was found partially sunk "after a night of heavy seas and fog," investigators said in a "Basic Factual Information" presentation. The hearing is expected to last two weeks. Another witness, former OceanGate finance director Bonnie Carl, said she quit in early 2018 over safety concerns, the Times reports. She said she saw unsupervised young engineers, some in their late teens, "wrenching on the sub." "It became abundantly clear to me that OceanGate was not the place I wanted to work, if that was their attitude toward safety," she said. (The final message from the Titan was "All good here.")
'I'm Not Getting in It,' Engineer Told OceanGate Boss
Tony Nissen testifies that he felt pressured to get Titan ready to dive
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That seems odd. I don't think rich people are just designing their own rockets and spacecraft and launching themselves whilly-nilly.
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Private spaceflight - Wikipedia
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SpaceX has the best engineers in the world working on their projects. Extremely well designed and tested, certified. There is nothing in common with OceanGate and its practices.Private spaceflight - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
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NASA has the best, too. They still lost two crews and vessels entirely in catastrophic disasters, and were lucky not to lose Apollo 13, too.
Space travel is one of the riskiest thing a person can do. There are going to be disasters.
Tried and tested submarines have been lost that way, too.
No one's saying that Oceangate is equivalent to any other space or marine exploration company or organisation.
What we're saying is that it is sure that at some point, if private space travel continues and expands, they're going to have a disaster. It's inevitable.
MOO
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At approximately 2,274 meters, the Titan sent the message, "All good here," according to the animation.
The last communication from the submersible was sent at approximately 3,341 meters: "Dropped two wts," meaning drop weights, according to the Coast Guard.
All communications and tracking from the submersible to Polar Prince were lost at 3,346 meters, according to the Coast Guard.
…
Tym Catterson, a former contractor for OceanGate, testified during Monday's hearing that there were "no red flags" on the day of the incident. He said he believes the intention of shedding the two 35-pound weights was to slow the vessel down as it approached the ocean floor. He thought the weight was dropped a little early than is typical -- not due to any emergency but to ensure a smooth landing, he said.
"Considering who was in the cab with Stockton at that particular time -- there are two billionaires in there with him -- I would absolutely guarantee that he's trying to make sure that this just goes as absolutely perfect and spot-on as he can," Catterson said.
abcnews.go.com
Long article and definitely worth reading. So much sloppy work, from using young, inexperienced help to Rush’s refusal to get the Titan certified. There’s also a history of employees being fired after voicing concerns over the sub’s integrity.
The pdf I linked to upthread is also informative.
The last communication from the submersible was sent at approximately 3,341 meters: "Dropped two wts," meaning drop weights, according to the Coast Guard.
All communications and tracking from the submersible to Polar Prince were lost at 3,346 meters, according to the Coast Guard.
…
Tym Catterson, a former contractor for OceanGate, testified during Monday's hearing that there were "no red flags" on the day of the incident. He said he believes the intention of shedding the two 35-pound weights was to slow the vessel down as it approached the ocean floor. He thought the weight was dropped a little early than is typical -- not due to any emergency but to ensure a smooth landing, he said.
"Considering who was in the cab with Stockton at that particular time -- there are two billionaires in there with him -- I would absolutely guarantee that he's trying to make sure that this just goes as absolutely perfect and spot-on as he can," Catterson said.
'All good here': Last messages revealed from Titan submersible before implosion: Coast Guard
One of the last messages sent from the doomed Titan submersible during its June 2023 voyage to the Titanic wreckage was "all good here," the Coast Guard said.
Long article and definitely worth reading. So much sloppy work, from using young, inexperienced help to Rush’s refusal to get the Titan certified. There’s also a history of employees being fired after voicing concerns over the sub’s integrity.
The pdf I linked to upthread is also informative.
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We've already lost people in both the Challenger and Columbia space expeditions.
Lochridge is the former operations director for OceanGate, the company that owned the Titan and brought it on several dives to the Titanic going back to 2021.
His testimony will come a day after other witnesses painted a picture of a troubled company that was impatient to get its unconventionally designed craft into the water. The accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.
Full article at link...
www.wlwt.com
Updated: 7:22 AM EDT Sep 17, 2024
His testimony will come a day after other witnesses painted a picture of a troubled company that was impatient to get its unconventionally designed craft into the water. The accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.
Full article at link...
A key employee who called the Titan unsafe testifies the company only wanted to make money
His testimony echoed that of other former employees Monday, one of whom described OceanGate head Stockton Rush as volatile and difficult to work with.
www.wlwt.com
Updated: 7:22 AM EDT Sep 17, 2024
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SpaceX has the best engineers in the world working on their projects. Extremely well designed and tested, certified. There is nothing in common with OceanGate and its practices.Private spaceflight - Wikipedia
Thanks for the information. I have not been able to follow this story as closely as I would like. I am interested in these last communications. Titan communicated with some sort of texting format. How did this work? What was the means of communications? The Polar Prince asked several times if Titan could see them? was this some sort of upward looking sonar that Titan had? I had wondered about the "releasing weights" comment and if it was normal or abnormal. The depth is just 500 meters from the Titanic, so were they just slowing decent or did this signal trouble? It seems to me that if there was real concern, the text would have said something different.At approximately 2,274 meters, the Titan sent the message, "All good here," according to the animation.
The last communication from the submersible was sent at approximately 3,341 meters: "Dropped two wts," meaning drop weights, according to the Coast Guard.
All communications and tracking from the submersible to Polar Prince were lost at 3,346 meters, according to the Coast Guard.
…
Tym Catterson, a former contractor for OceanGate, testified during Monday's hearing that there were "no red flags" on the day of the incident. He said he believes the intention of shedding the two 35-pound weights was to slow the vessel down as it approached the ocean floor. He thought the weight was dropped a little early than is typical -- not due to any emergency but to ensure a smooth landing, he said.
"Considering who was in the cab with Stockton at that particular time -- there are two billionaires in there with him -- I would absolutely guarantee that he's trying to make sure that this just goes as absolutely perfect and spot-on as he can," Catterson said.
'All good here': Last messages revealed from Titan submersible before implosion: Coast Guard
One of the last messages sent from the doomed Titan submersible during its June 2023 voyage to the Titanic wreckage was "all good here," the Coast Guard said.
Long article and definitely worth reading. So much sloppy work, from using young, inexperienced help to Rush’s refusal to get the Titan certified. There’s also a history of employees being fired after voicing concerns over the sub’s integrity.
The pdf I linked to upthread is also informative.
Oregonmama
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No one could ever pay me to climb in that cheap tin metal can. MOO
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I think it would be amazing to be able to actually see the Titanic wreck. A very moving experience. But I would never have agreed to go down in this sub. Before risking anything I would have done some checking and I think even some basic research would have shown lots of red flags here. I'm sure many would still take the risk, but I would not. Not for something that is just a thrill or amazing experience. I have been sky diving before, incredible experience. But that is well known risks.
Oregonmama
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I disagree. Let the victims rest in peace. The Titanic site is haunted. JMO
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I understand your position and respect that point of view as well.
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Lochridge is the former operations director for OceanGate, the company that owned the Titan and brought it on several dives to the Titanic going back to 2021.
His testimony will come a day after other witnesses painted a picture of a troubled company that was impatient to get its unconventionally designed craft into the water. The accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.
Full article at link...
A key employee who called the Titan unsafe testifies the company only wanted to make money
His testimony echoed that of other former employees Monday, one of whom described OceanGate head Stockton Rush as volatile and difficult to work with.
Updated: 7:22 AM EDT Sep 17, 2024
I watched part of David Lochridge's testimony. I was interested in what he had to say because he had filed a whistleblower complaint against OceanGate and was sued by them in retaliation.
Lochridge was scathing towards Rush and some of the other OceanGate employees like Tony Nissen who he thought were completely unconcerned with safety and were willing to take unacceptable risks. He also gave several examples of how Rush (who he kept calling "the CEO") bullied and screamed at lower-level employees. One reason that turnover at the company was very high. Rush would also fire anyone who stood up to him.
Lochridge was also unhappy with OSHA, since they didn't protect him as a whistleblower. He was eventually forced to settle with OceanGate and sign an NDA that left him unable to speak out against the company. He can only speak now because he is under subpoena.
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