/sci/ - Science & Math

>>3261863

>>also sending people outside the sub at those depths? u srs bro?

Yup. The continental shelf is rarely deeper than a few hundred feet. Virginia class subs have a stated crush depth of "well over 800 feet" (the Navy never reveals full specs on their hardware).

Atmospheric diving suits are typically capable of withstanding pressure at 1,000+ feet. Pic related.

The airlock hatch would need to be widened, but with a suit like this, yes, divers could exit the sub at 800+ feet. Like astronauts doing a spacewalk.

>>2232563

I can see the value in having Newt Suit style arms by the porthole so a scientist can work on stuff loaded onto an experiment tray. Probably more dextrous than using waldos. But not the whole suit.

The idea of newt suits would be to permit scientists to exit the habitat and explore on foot. To enter caves too small for a sub, to collaborate on projects that need two sets of hands, to permit them to explore the natural sea floor environment in the way humans explore best.

The current crop of Newt Suits are steel and were designed in the 80s, so we'd need a revised design for 2010 with a titantium hull and sapphire dome if they're to operate at such depths.

This is a Newt Suit, for reference. The deep sea equivalent of a space suit. It withstands pressure entirely by the strength of the structure, meaning the interior can remain at surface pressure, so no decompression is required.

We'd need a whole new class of Newt Suits to explore the benthic, though. titantium armor, a transparent sapphire dome, that sort of thing. At such depths, scuba gear wouldn't cut it, even with special gas mixtures. The human body simply cannot survive direct exposure at that depth. The deeper you go, the more parallels with space crop up.

In fact the station wouldn't necessarily need to be fixed to the sea floor. It could "hover", anchored by strong tethers on all sides, permitting a wider variety of subs to dock with it and permitting the observation of different levels of the ocean from the same geographical position.

This is a Newt Suit, for reference. The deep sea equivalent of a space suit. It withstands pressure entirely by the strength of the structure, meaning the interior can remain at surface pressure, so no decompression is required.

We'd need a whole new class of Newt Suits to explore the benthic, though. titantium armor, a transparent sapphire dome, that sort of thing. At such depths, scuba gear wouldn't cut it, even with special gas mixtures.

It would be a truly hostile, alien world in which we'd have to struggle to survive. But also a world full of undiscovered wonders. Wonders, and horrors.

Deep sea suits....