Oceangate Titan submersible: NASA downplays role [Video]

OceanGate co-founder Stockton Rush said the carbon fibre hull used in an experimental submersible that imploded was developed with help of NASA and aerospace manufacturers, but a NASA official said Thursday that the agency had little involvement and a Boeing official said some recommendations were ignored.

NASA intended to play a role in building and testing the carbon fibre hull. But the COVID-19 pandemic prevented NASA from fulfilling its role, other than consulting on a one-third scale mockup, not the submersible Titan that imploded while attempting to go to the Titanic wreckage, said Justin Jackson, a materials engineer for NASA.

At one point, Jackson said NASA balked at allowing its name to be invoked by OceanGate. “The language they were using was getting too close to us endorsing, so our folks had some heartburn,” he told a Coast Guard panel.

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