NASA says it did NOT help manufacture or test Titan sub

2023-06-22

NASA distances itself from OceanGate disaster, claiming it only carried out remote consultations and did NOT manufacture or test Titan sub – after University of Washington University and Boeing denied ANY involvement

NASA has distanced itself from claims by OceanGate that it was involved in the development of the Titan submersible
The agency released a statement after Boeing and the University of Washington also disputed OceanGate’s claims they help with development
Titan went missing on Sunday morning during a dive to the Titanic wreckage and a ‘debris field’ was found on Thursday

NASA has distanced itself from claims by OceanGate that it was involved in the development of the Titan submersible.

The agency said it only carried out remote consultations with the company which built and deployed Titan, and ‘did not provide any approvals for the project’.

A NASA spokesman clarified its role after OceanGate and its CEO, Stockton Rush, made several claims about how it ‘[worked] with NASA’ and used the agency’s logo in some of its promotional material.

Boeing and the University of Washington have also denied any involvement in the design of the missing Titanic tourist submersible – despite OceanGate saying they played a part.

Titan went missing on Sunday morning during a dive to the Titanic wreckage and a ‘debris field’ was found on Thursday during an enormous international search operation. The evidence points to a ‘catastrophic implosion’ that claimed the lives of all five people on board, including Rush.

Stockton Rush, the founder and CEO of OceanGate, is seen in the summer of 2022 talking to CBS News correspondent David Pogue about his Titanic tourist submersible. Rush told Pogue that the sub, Titan, was made in collaboration with Boeing, NASA and the University of Washington

The submersible, Titan, is pictured descending. It was the only five-person sub capable of reaching Titanic

NASA told DailyMail.com it had a Space Act Agreement with OceanGate, which allows it to work with an outside organization, and ‘consulted on materials and manufacturing processes for the submersible’.

But a spokesman added: ‘NASA did not conduct testing and manufacturing via its workforce or facilities, which were done elsewhere by OceanGate.’

OceanGate announced in February 2020 that it had partnered with NASA and that the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, would ‘serve as the facility where the development and manufacturing of a new aerospace-grade hull is completed’.

The work was described as ‘key to OceanGate completing its latest Cyclops-class submersible’, which is understood to be a reference to Titan. But the pandemic struck a month later and thwarted the plan.

NASA said: ‘For the safety of our team members during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as limited resources and availability, NASA Marshall engineers only participated remotely in technical interchange meetings with OceanGate, providing consultation for materials and manufacturing processes based on industry standards.

‘We did not provide any approvals for the project as OceanGate was the technical authority.’

OceanGate Expeditions stated on its website that Titan was designed with the help of Boeing, the University of Washington and NASA.

OceanGate’s submersible was designed by the company to travel almost 13,000ft below sea level to the wreck of the Titanic – but ‘has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma, or death’

OceanGate and its CEO, Stockton Rush, made several claims about how it ‘[worked] with NASA’ and used the agency’s logo in some of its promotional material

Boeing said it was ‘not a partner on the Titan and did not design or build it’.

The University of Washington also said it was not involved in Titan.

When Rush was questioned last year by CBS News about the rudimentary conditions inside the sub – it has one button, a camping store light, and is controlled by a PlayStation-style controller – he insisted it was made in conjunction with experts.

‘There are certain things that you want to be buttoned down,’ said Rush, insisting that the sub was safe.

‘The pressure vessel is not MacGyver at all, because that’s where we worked with Boeing and NASA and the University of Washington.

‘Everything else can fail, your thrusters can go, your lights can go. You’re still going to be safe.’

The US Coast Guard and OceanGate Expeditions have confirmed the deaths of the five men on the missing Titan submersible, parts of which were discovered today on the ocean floor, 500 meters from the bow of the famous ship they died trying to see.

The landing frame and rear cover of the missing submersible were discovered today by a remote operated submarine in a devastating blow to any hope that the men may still be found alive.

It would mean the sub suffered a crack and imploded under the underwater pressure, instantly killing all five men on board.

‘The only saving grace is that it would have been immediate, literally in milliseconds and the men would have no idea what was happening,’ David Mearns, a friend of two of the men on board, said during an appearance on Sky News in the UK this evening.

He added: ‘My worst fears have now been realized.’

It brings a devastating development to the search, which had been emphatically categorized as rescue effort – and not a recovery mission – by US officials.

Source: Read Full Article