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Chinese Submersible Planning For Record Dive
An anonymous reader writes "You may have heard that China sent a manned research sub down to the ocean deep this summer, marking a personal depth record of 5,000 meters (next year it will aim for a world record of 7,000 meters). Here's a story about the sub based on an interview with its designer in Wuxi, China. It's got some interesting new details: the designer had never actually seen a submersible before he set out to build the deepest diving research sub in the world; all the stuff he's built before has ended up in warehouses because the Chinese government only funded technological development, not use."
he set out to build the deepest diving research sub in the world;
Someone should point out that he's a few years late to the race, Trieste did it in the 60s. The record is almost 11k meters in my world, not sure what they are talking about at 7k
I guess perhaps we have completely different definition of 'research' or something.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathyscaphe_Trieste
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Was set by the Trieste on January 23, 1960 at a depth of 10,911 meters (35,797 ft).
crazy dynamite monkey
World record set by Chinese government? http://geology.com/records/bathyscaphe-trieste.shtml
/* TODO: Spawn child process, interest child in technology, have child write a new sig */
Unless they're lucky enough to find something deeper than the Challenger Deep, or are ready to head into caves, they can't beat the record because somebody has already been to the deepest part of the ocean floor.
Only twerps use linux and you don't want to be a twerp do you?
I would not want to be the pilot of this vehicle
I sure would. OTOH, manned research to the deeps is probably the wrong way to go. We have lots of experience with unmanned ROVs and their capabilities are pretty impressive (watch the Macondo spill tapes on YouTube). Spending the money to put meat Popsicles down at the bottom is pretty much grandstanding.
I wonder how much of the Chinese sub is really Chinese or if there are lots of off the shelf parts. There is a large industrial base for deep water ROV bits and pieces, most of which are American (Go USA!). While there is utility in learning how to put all the parts together to survive at those depths, the real engineering is building the technology in the first place.
But 11 years gives you some lead time to learn lots and lots of things. Maybe we can send copies of IEEE Spectrum to the Tea Party / Libertarian YoYos in Congress and show them what they're up against.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V3CfD8TPac&feature=related
serious self esteem problem, the PRC felt the compelling need to label everything as their own, evident by the dire need to plant their flags every where they've been (if if the feat has done 50+ years ago.)
Trieste was a bathyscape--it was lowered on a cable from a ship and brought back up. Jiaolong, Shinkai and Alvin are all free-diving submersibles.
not a lot of details, but if this thing can maneuver, and not just plummet like a rock then it will be of more use than this Trieste bs everyone seems to be quoting. That thing was designed half a century ago with ancient methods of manufacture and material. Do you really think they can't do better now? My question is why is China doing this and not someone else?
In other news, after the accusations of using Top Gun footage to demonstrate the supposed Chinese super-plane, the Xinhua News Agency is rumoured to be already working on excuses for why their submarine newscasts look suspiciously like something from The Hunt For Red October. Several party spokespersons are rumored to be practicing in advance saying "No, it's not like that, captain Wang Hung Lo just happens to look exactly like Sean Connery" with a straight face ;)
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Check this guy out: http://www.stanleysubmarines.com/ designed and built his own sub and dosent have a engineering background. Pretty crazy, but he has 800+ dives so I guess it works. Would you ride down in it?
Do I really need to say more? We all know this is how it's going to end. Either that, or it's all a complete fiction; there's precedent for that, too.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Chinese might not be the first to put a man on the moon, but they might be the first to put a man on the bottom of the sea
- Wait.. No, the Italians beat them to it.
If you build a sub that dives to record breaking depths I would personally build two or three even if it is expensive.
Why? If the sub breaks down and they can't go up for some reason then who can rescue them in time? Blub, blub, blub--*implode*!
In all of the articles that I have read, it has always been referred to as the deepest operational sub. Key word being operational.
Trieste’s bathyscaphe did go deeper – but it’s not operational any more.
The China’s sub should be able to dive deeper then Alvin – which is currently the deepest diving sub that is operational. I think Alvin II is coming out in a few years – but even that one is not designed to go as deep.
Talk about sitting on one’s laurels.
Archimede (9,300 m), as of 2008, it is on operational reserve, at Toulon
Hey can i call bullshit on this story and its like.
china has no working aircraft carrier...
when i'm in china this fall, bitch is still a bitch even in conversational english
Shows that capital is all that's required for advancement, not approval by government or educational gatekeepers. The systems and the lawyers they support that restrict the raising of capital to the rich should be assassinated.