Super-light sub

[Colin1]

Interesting
though I don't personally think that the 'ocean's depths' are any place for an amateur

Super-light sub has 'capability greater than U.S. Navy' - CNN.com

 

[Messy1]

Wow, I'd tend to agree with you Colin! A hell of a lot different that going for a ride in a buddy's car or plane.

 

[RabidAlien]

Yeah. That's a disaster waiting to happen. Now, in the hands of someone like Robert Ballard or another oceanic research program, that's another story.

Robert Ballard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[vikingBerserker]

I agree, I can just imagine the shipwrecks that will be plundered.

 

[Messy1]

Remember to never drink and dive!

 

[RabidAlien]

If it works as planned, imagine how many shipwrecks could be legitimately discovered (not just plundered), how many new species could be found/cataloged/studied, how many advances in science could be made with what's found down there. Give it to a bunch of rich trust-fund punks, someone's gonna get hurt, somethings gonna get destroyed/killed, and someone's gonna loot a wreck.

 

[Colin1]

If it works as planned, imagine how many shipwrecks could be legitimately discovered (not just plundered), how many new species could be found/cataloged/studied, how many advances in science could be made with what's found down there

It does indeed
open up alot of possibilities, personally (if I were to be the 'amateur' to own one) I'd spend my time scouring the bed of the English Channel; can you imagine what a treasure trove of aviation archaeology lies down there? RAF, Luftwaffe and USAAF crates, all with a story to tell. I bet there's a few Typhoons down there...

 

[Messy1]

That would be cool Colin.

 

[wheelsup_cavu]

I had heard of thes a long time ago.
Or one like it that required you to "fly" below the waves.


Wheels

 

[Colin1]

Or one like it that required you to "fly" below the waves

There was something vaguely similar to that in the opening credits of Star Trek: Enterprise

 

[wheelsup_cavu]

There was something vaguely similar to that in the opening credits of Star Trek: Enterprise

Thanks, but not the same reference.
I never watched Star Trek Enterprise.

I do remember reading about this type of submersible but I just don't remember where.
I thought it was a cool idea when I read about it.
It seemed safer than the standard way a submersible works to me.
With it being naturally bouyant sinking to the bottom was less of a concern.


Wheels

 

[Colin1]

Thanks, but not the same reference.
I never watched Star Trek Enterprise

Hmmm
so how do you know it was not the same reference?

 

[wheelsup_cavu]

Hmmm
so how do you know it was not the same reference?

I read about it long before Star Trek Enterprise was aired.
It may have been a concept vehicle but the idea for one was around long before that show aired.


Wheels

 

[Butters]

As an aside, what is so inherently wrong about 'plundering' ship wrecks? Granted, there are valid reasons for wanting to reserve pre-15th century wrecks for scientific/historical scrutiny, but the claim that later ones have anything fundamental to offer in our understanding of those times is merely a self-serving canard foisted upon the public by sanctimonious 'researchers' and museum curators acting in their own institutional and personal interests.

Our knowledge of those times is very well-documented, and the truth of the matter is that few, if any, of the relics salvaged by researchers from post 15th-century wrecks have anything signficant to offer in regards to increasing our understanding those eras. The vast majority simply take up space and gather dust...

The archeological/museum community have no greater moral claim to these deteriorating resources than does any private citizen. Because both parties are after the same thing - to get ahold of the shiny, valuable stuff for the sake of money, whether thru direct sale, or as a means of increasing funding for themselves or their institutions. The advancement of scientific knowledge has nothing to do with it.

JL

 

[GrauGeist]

If the general public were able to access a shipwreck, chances are, they wouldn't know (or care) about the difference between a 15th century Portugese Man o'War and a 19th century British frigate. There are significant shipwrecks that are better left to professionals, like the submarine CSS Hunley (19th century), for example. Another point regarding shipwrecks, are the modern era warships (and aircraft) that have dangerous munitions (and crew members) still aboard.

It also makes me wonder, if these things are available to the general public, how long it would be before someone killed themselves in it.

 

[RabidAlien]

Shipwrecks are, for all intents and purposes, underwater graveyards. Randomly breaking into a ship and grabbing up souvenirs is the same as digging up a coffin and looting the jewelery. Why not? We know who they were and how they died and the family has probably moved on.

 

[Butters]

The 'general public' HAS been accessing wrecks for centuries, yet science marches on...

The new sub does not alter that. All it really does is allow more wrecks, old or otherwise, to be accessed. As for the possibility of members of the general public killing themselves if that million dollar+ sub is available to them, so what? It's unlikely that children will be buying many of them, and if adults want to take the risks that exploring the ocean depths inevitably and obviously entails, that is their responsibility. We allow members of the general public to own and operate helicopters, don't we? And don't helicopters also allow people to access places that are otherwise very difficult to get to?

JL

 

[Messy1]

Even if they have the sub, I do not think they will have the capability to excavate anything. Does this mini sub have a arm with a claw on it, or any other means of extracting anything from shipwrecks?

 

[Colin1]

Even if they have the sub, I do not think they will have the capability to excavate anything. Does this mini sub have a arm with a claw on i, or any other means of extracting anything from shipwrecks?

Good point
and if they did and something went wrong, how will the weight of any appendages affect the tendency of the sub to want to float to the surface if something goes wrong?

 

[Messy1]

That is another point I was thinking about too Colin, the extra weight, and how much weight including people, is this sub designed to handle. How much weight can it still take on and still rise to the surface if there would be a problem. This thing to me is more of a sight seeing vessel, a toy for the rich.