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Aiming For a Commercially Available Submersible

Posted by Soulskill on from the bond-villains-take-notice dept.

Zothecula writes "In three years, if you happen to be 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) beneath the surface of the ocean, keep an eye out for the Cyclops. No, not the hairy giant, but the 5-passenger submersible. Once it's commercially available in 2016, it should be 'the only privately owned deep-water manned submersible available for contracts.' 'That 7-inch-thick hull will be made of carbon fiber, in which individual strips of pre-impregnated fiber are individually placed within the carbon fiber matrix. Developed by Boeing, this technique is said to offer finer production control than the more traditional filament winding process, and should allow the Cyclops to withstand the 4,300 psi (300 bar) of water pressure it will encounter at its maximum diving depth – the earlier-mentioned 3,000 meters.' As for why it's called the Cyclops, just check out its one-big-eye-like 180-degree borosilicate glass observation dome."

5 of 66 comments (clear)

  1. 5 Passengers? by idontgno · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How many kilos of high-value cargo would that be?

    Will buying one of these put you on a watch list in one of the Wars on <noun>?

    --
    Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
    1. Re:5 Passengers? by CanHasDIY · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Assuming a weight capacity of 200 lb/passenger (doesn't seem an unreasonable estimate), minus the weight of the driver, you'd be able to fit about 363 Kilos of coca... I mean, 'supplies,' for an 8 hour journey. Maybe a little longer since there'd only be 1 oxygen-user on board.

      Will buying one of these put you on a watch list in one of the Wars on ?

      Are you kidding? Just talking about it probably got us both added to a watchlist or two.

      Side note, OT: How the hell do you escape greater/less than signs???

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    2. Re:5 Passengers? by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 3, Informative

      Side note, OT: How the hell do you escape greater/less than signs???

      Slashdot uses a subset of HTML tags and codes. &lt; and &gt; does it, <see?> although you don't have to put in a escape sequence for a greater than that doesn't match a previous less than; Slashdot doesn't swallow those.

  2. For the uninitiated by Skiron · · Score: 4, Informative

    Every 10 metres from the surface, divide by ten and add 1. i.e. at 60 metres depth, that will be 7 bar (105 psi), at 300 metres that will be 31 bar (465 psi).

  3. Not the first by Maudib · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.stanleysubmarines.com/

    Though he doesn't go as deep.