Missing Titanic sub: How does the Titan submersible work? Here's a look inside
The search for a missing Titanic tourist submersible continued Wednesday as experts feared the watercraft may have only a day's supply of oxygen left.
U.S. and Canadian crews began searching for the vessel Sunday after the 22-foot submersible, Titan, lost contact with a support ship while carrying five people to the wreckage site of the Titanic.
Here’s a closer look at the Titan submersible owned by OceanGate, a Washington-based deep-sea exploration company.
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How big is the submersible?
The Titan is about 9 feet high, 8 feet wide, 22 feet long and weighs 25,000 pounds, according to the OceanGate website. The watercraft left from St. John's, Newfoundland, on Friday and lost contact with the ship that was monitoring it about an hour and 45 minutes later. It usually takes two hours to descend to the wreck.
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Titanic submersible game controller
A CBS reporter who rode the Titan submersible last year told USA TODAY that parts of the vessel seemed "less sophisticated.”
"There were parts of it that seemed to me to be less sophisticated than I was guessing. You drive it with a PlayStation video controller ... some of the ballasts are old, rusty construction pipes," CBS correspondent David Pogue told USA TODAY. "There were certain things that looked like cut corners."
The submersible's exterior
The Titan is launched underwater from a platform. Submersibles require a support ship that can launch and recover them, unlike submarines, which are fully autonomous.
Interior of the Titan
The Titan fits five passengers inside the hull, including one pilot and four crewmembers. The hull is made of 5-inch-thick carbon-fiber materials.
Submersible vs. submarine
A submersible is a vessel in the submarine family but smaller and less self-sufficient than the classic military sub.
The 5 passengers on the submersible
Passengers aboard the submersible are British businessman Hamish Harding, Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and two members of a Pakistani business family Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman.
How deep is the Titanic?
The Titanic is about 2½ miles, or 12,500 feet, below the surface.
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How did the Titanic sink?
On April 14, 1912, the Titanic collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City. On April 15, at about 2:20 a.m., the ship sank.
Where is the Titanic wreck location?
The Titanic lies about 370 miles off Newfoundland, Canada.
Has OceanGate gone to the Titanic before?
This was OceanGate Expeditions' third annual voyage to the wreckage site. OceanGate operates three of the submersibles and says it has completed at least 14 expeditions and more than 200 dives in the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, according to the website.
Contributing Janet Loehrke