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Comment by eugenejen | Hacker News Reader

IMHO the cause for slow progress is due to most submarine research are restricted and classified as top secret.

At the other hand, I wonder why submarine exploration of oceans on earth is not regarded as highly as space exploration. Also while there are so many private start-ups focus on commercial space business, what about deep ocean? I know James Cameron's participation. But anybody else?

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Technology: Submarines have to withstand hundreds of atmospheres of pressure.

Spacecraft? 1.

Professor Hubert Farnsworth: Good Lord! That's over 5000 atmospheres of pressure!

Fry: How many atmospheres can the ship withstand?

Professor Hubert Farnsworth: Well, it was built for space travel, so anywhere between zero and one.

Surely exiting a gravity well causes the spacecraft to experience an enormous amount of pressure opposite to the direction of its travel.

Many different forces for sure, but I doubt that acceleration through the atmosphere causes a uniform pressure over the entire craft.

In fact, would you get the opposote effect along the sides of the craft, where air is moving fast but parallel to the surface?

You mean zero :)

Negative one perhaps?

It doesn't have to withstand a pressure, but it does have to contain a pressure. Kind of opposite-ish.

Only if you build it in space.

The weird thing about the design shown is that it really doesn't look particularly strong. Is that a glass bubble cockpit?

A traditional submarine is a huge steel cylinder. I thought there was a good reason for that.

From and article I read yesterday (I believe it was in wired) the "bubble" is solid quartz.

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