• mean_bean279@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago
    • The US military heard it and didn’t necessarily want to give away capability of listening devices around the sea floor.

    • The sub was difficult to get to the debris field because it was at an incredibly deep section that few craft are capable of reaching safely.

    It was frustrating they made a big deal about something we ultimately could have done nothing about in the first place. However it’s not like the whole “hearing the implosion” thing was something the military wanted to give away and at that depth we have to be careful. Don’t forget we’ve put more people into space than have been to the deepest point on the planet.

    • elvith@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      Don’t forget we’ve put more people into space than have been to the deepest point on the planet.

      Fun fact, space is easier. It takes more effort to get there, sure. Coming from the “normal pressure” here on earth (about 1 atm) and going to space (0 atm) is a pressure difference of 1 atm. But: Diving into the ocean, the pressure increases the deeper you go. For every ~10 meters (~33ft) you go deeper, the pressure increases by 1 atm.

      That means, that a space ships would only need to dive 10 m deep to get to the pressure difference it experiences in space. They went to see the Titanic which is about 3,800 m deep. So the sub needs to withhold a pressure difference that’s about 380 times higher than a space ship experiences.

      (OK, little difference I omitted: In space you need to prevent the vehicle from exploding, while in the deep sea you need to prevent it from imploding)

      • mean_bean279@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Yup, it’s part of why the idea of rescuing them was never going to happen either. There’s only something like 3 subs in the world that can dive to that depth and they weren’t close enough nor built for rescue missions. Even if they were alive they only had 3 days worth of oxygen. Honestly they’re lucky that the “sub” just imploded rather than dealing with the slow loss of oxygen.

        • Galapagon@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          I’m not sure about that, hypoxia could be a fun time. CO2 poisoning would just be sleepy… So not as fun I guess. Waiting to die would definitely be lame though.

          • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Try again. High CO2 is highly uncomfortable. You cannot catch your breath, headaches, confusion, body has to deal with blood trying to go more acidic… CO2 poisoning is anything but a nice nap.

            • XeroxCool@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Exactly. Your lungs don’t burn when you hold your breath because O2 is low, they burn because CO2 is high. Any other gas to displace the O2 is undetectable (aside from irritants and smells). It’s why huffing helium doesn’t burn but can make you light headed faster than you realize. That’s why CO poisoning is so dangerous. CO2 poisoning is torture. And yet CO2 pits are still legal for kill pits…

    • SuckMyWang@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      So why did they reveal that info after if it was so sensitive? I wouldn’t have thought that would have changed anything. I also have vague memories of reports of a “sound” being detected early on but then not mentioned again until after. Then again my memory is trash so I dunno

      • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        1 year ago

        How quickly they process the information, how accuratly they could determine the source, and how accuratly they could determine the location would all be fairly sensitive information.

        Basically what I’m saying is that if they announced right after it happened that “Hey guys that sub imploded at X depth and the debris field will be at Y location because we heard a pressure vessel of the correct size crush followed by the sound of something of roughly the correct mass crashing into the sea floor.” Then everyone would know how capable our equipment is.

        Basically announcing it days later gives a conclusion to the questions of what happened and also will likely keep others from meeting a similar fate. Not to mention the benefit of telling other countries that “Yes we can and will find out about what goes on underwater, just how quickly is more of a mystery… For you.”

        • SuckMyWang@lemmy.worldOP
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          1 year ago

          No offence but if you have this line of thinking it’s fairly safe to assume other countries have people whose job it is to think this way who would have easily come to the same conclusion. I mean how quickly isn’t leaving too much to the imagination. I would just assume they’re capable of doing everything you mentioned plus more

          • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            1 year ago

            The accuracy is a big part of it

            Saying “We heard something in that multi square mile area that may be worth looking into” is way different than “We know exactly where and what it was”

            And how quickly they could definitively identify what the sound was and where can play a big role in identifying capabilities of the systems at play and the how advanced they are

            And of course knowing capabilities is a key part in developing systems to circumvent such systems

            Basically what I’m trying to say in entirely too many words is that specifics matter a lot, especially to the military. And specifically knowing what someone is capable of can be used as a way of getting around it or using their own systems against them. Especially so that you know you’re not investing in systems research that is already defeated by anothers systems.

            • SuckMyWang@lemmy.worldOP
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              1 year ago

              So assume they can do it but if you invest to heavily in countering that assumption and your assumption turns out to be wrong you wasted resource on something that may be a better assumption?

    • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      No. They heard it at the surface. You hear the equivalent of hundreds of pounds of explosives going off within a few thousand feet. It probably even vibrated the boat a bit.

      It was the equivalent of a massive depth charge. They heard it at the surface near by unless the entire crew was sound asleep.