4 ms·

I know it's not very economical, but perhaps someone could start a submarine cruise? You get some vacationers, use a relatively large submarine so they have som

I know it's not very economical, but perhaps someone could start a submarine cruise? You get some vacationers, use a relatively large submarine so they have some measure of comfort, then sonar your way around a pre-planned public route. Then you have navigational data and sonar scans you can release to the world. Or, even better than releasing (the bankers say to themselves), selling the data.

frosted-flakes 5y ago
Why bother even going anywhere? It's a sealed box without windows—who'd know the difference?
- imdsm 5y ago
  can we have some port holes?
  - jccooper 5y ago
    Sure. You can see plenty of black water all day long.
ashtonkem 5y ago
Submarines are notoriously bad places to be. The navy actually sets very long enlistment terms for its submarine crews, because the re-enlistment rate is extremely low. Even with nuclear reactors submarines are cramped, noisy, and unpleasant. Removing the weaponry might make it suck less, but it’s not gonna be “luxury”.
dredmorbius 5y ago
Surface soundings or a towed array are vastly more economical.
- ashtonkem 5y ago
  For uncontested waters, yes. The problems start when one military starts trying to make charts in waters claimed by another country. That tends to become a bit of a problem.
  - dredmorbius 5y ago
    Sure, but if you're conducting the survey from a submarine you're 1) very nearly as detectable (the sonar is pinging like mad, China likely have hydrophones throughout the region) and 2) as noted, your consts, complications, and vulnerabilties have gone up markedly. Given circumstances, something like a drone ship might be a better option. Slightly less detectable, cheap, and can be deployed in quantity if desired. https://youtube.com/watch?v=9XoTAvcKgOE https://youtube.com/watch?v=9XoTAvcKgOE Toward the end of the video (beginning about 4:30) the VP of ocean mapping talks about bathymetry as a major future mission. I note that whilst the surveyor craft has an international-orange sail as the other droneships, the body is battleship grey. I suspect there may be alternatively-liveried mission sails as well. More on that here: https://www.saildrone.com/tag/bathymetry https://www.saildrone.com/tag/bathymetry Connan seems to be USN Ret.: https://www.crunchbase.com/person/brian-connon https://www.crunchbase.com/person/brian-connon In fact, I'd put reasonable money on that being a chief mission consideration for the technology. Drop a bunch of these in bad weather --- they'll make good coverage, and it's going to be difficult as heck to get out, spot them, and take countermeasures. Give it a grey paint-job and maybe drop some radar-absorbing material on it, and they'll be fairly stealthy.

frosted-flakes 5y ago

Why bother even going anywhere? It's a sealed box without windows—who'd know the difference?

imdsm 5y ago
can we have some port holes?
- jccooper 5y ago
  Sure. You can see plenty of black water all day long.

ashtonkem 5y ago

Submarines are notoriously bad places to be. The navy actually sets very long enlistment terms for its submarine crews, because the re-enlistment rate is extremely low. Even with nuclear reactors submarines are cramped, noisy, and unpleasant. Removing the weaponry might make it suck less, but it’s not gonna be “luxury”.

dredmorbius 5y ago

Surface soundings or a towed array are vastly more economical.

ashtonkem 5y ago
For uncontested waters, yes. The problems start when one military starts trying to make charts in waters claimed by another country. That tends to become a bit of a problem.
- dredmorbius 5y ago
  Sure, but if you're conducting the survey from a submarine you're 1) very nearly as detectable (the sonar is pinging like mad, China likely have hydrophones throughout the region) and 2) as noted, your consts, complications, and vulnerabilties have gone up markedly. Given circumstances, something like a drone ship might be a better option. Slightly less detectable, cheap, and can be deployed in quantity if desired. https://youtube.com/watch?v=9XoTAvcKgOE https://youtube.com/watch?v=9XoTAvcKgOE Toward the end of the video (beginning about 4:30) the VP of ocean mapping talks about bathymetry as a major future mission. I note that whilst the surveyor craft has an international-orange sail as the other droneships, the body is battleship grey. I suspect there may be alternatively-liveried mission sails as well. More on that here: https://www.saildrone.com/tag/bathymetry https://www.saildrone.com/tag/bathymetry Connan seems to be USN Ret.: https://www.crunchbase.com/person/brian-connon https://www.crunchbase.com/person/brian-connon In fact, I'd put reasonable money on that being a chief mission consideration for the technology. Drop a bunch of these in bad weather --- they'll make good coverage, and it's going to be difficult as heck to get out, spot them, and take countermeasures. Give it a grey paint-job and maybe drop some radar-absorbing material on it, and they'll be fairly stealthy.