- NASA was originally supposed to help OceanGate build and test a model of its carbon fiber hull.
- But internal NASA emails show that the COVID-19 pandemic shut those plans down.
NASA was originally supposed to help OceanGate build the controversial carbon fiber hull for its submersible, but the plan was scrapped because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to internal emails and a contract obtained by Insider.
OceanGate's Titan submarine imploded in June on its way to the Titanic wreckage on the North Atlantic seafloor, killing all five passengers.
Experts told Insider that photos of the submersible's wreckage indicate the implosion may have been caused by a failure of the sub's experimental carbon fiber hull.
OceanGate's use of the material in a submarine hull was new, but dangerous, experts said, since carbon fiber is more likely to succumb to pressure than more commonly-used materials like titanium.
OcenGate first announced in a February 2020 press release that NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama would "serve as the facility where the development and manufacturing" of OceanGate's carbon fiber hull would be completed.
"This design effort is key to OceanGate completing its latest Cyclops-class submersible that is intended to dive to 6,000 meters (19,800 feet) with five crewmembers on board," the company wrote in the 2020 press release.
Internal emails show NASA's reaction
The contract between NASA and OceanGate, signed in early 2020, specified that NASA would manufacture a scale model of OceanGate's carbon fiber-hulled Titan submersible, and perform "ultrasonic testing" on the model "to ensure quality build," according to a copy of the contract obtained through a public records request.
OceanGate, the contract said, would provide carbon fiber material for the model's construction.
But after OceanGate's Titan sub got lost at sea in June, NASA staff were left to address the agency's connection to the controversial sub company, according to internal NASA emails obtained by Insider through a public records request.
In one email, a NASA staff member wanted to make sure other staff knew that while NASA had originally agreed to help OceanGate build a "scale model" of the hull, it had not agreed to help build the "operational unit" itself.
And then, the employee clarified in the email, COVID-19 prevented NASA from ever actually helping OceanGate build or test the scale model.
"COVID struck and this activity was not deemed mission critical and personnel were not allowed onsite," the email says. "Oceangate was schedule critical and arranged for commercial entities in their home state of WA to execute the fabrication. While we did provide engineering input Oceangate was the technical authority and made final decisions. We only operated in a consultant role."
The employee noted in another email that his last contact with Oceangate was in October 2020.
After the Titan sub's implosion and reports of OceanGate's controversial design techniques, other entities like the University of Washington and Boeing have denied ever helping OceanGate design the sub.
A spokesperson for OceanGate declined to comment. A spokesperson for NASA did not immediately return a request for comment.
Internally, at least one OceanGate employee raised concerns about the use of carbon fiber in the hull. Former OceanGate pilot David Lochridge wrote in a report shared within the company that he believed the hull could come apart with repeated dives, and that the sub's hull integrity monitoring system would give a pilot only milliseconds of notice before the craft imploded, according to media reports and court filings.
Lochridge also called for more testing of the hull before the sub went on deep-sea dives, according to court filings.