NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Day eight of the hearing on the Titan submersible disaster brought experts from NASA and Boeing before the Marine Board of Investigation in North Charleston. The board is in search of answers regarding the Titan’s doomed mission to the Titanic wreckage site in June 2023. The submersible, belonging to OceanGate, imploded killing all five of its occupants. NASA Materials Engineer, Justin Jackson, was the first witness to testify on Thursday. He told the board OceanGate came to NASA looking for a facility to manufacture a composite cylinder. Jackson testified OceanGate and NASA entered a Space Act Agreement signed in early 2020, which assigned NASA 14 responsibilities. According to Jackson, the agency never did any manufacturing or testing of OceanGate’s cylinders because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The engineer did however testify NASA provided remote consultation throughout the build of OceanGate’s 1/3 scale models. The board asked Jackson to specify the atmospheric pressure differences in spacecraft versus deep-sea vessels. He replied pressure vessels’ pressure is typically internal, while the deep-sea vessel has external hydrostatic pressure. Given the significant differences, he was questioned by the board why NASA lent its expertise to the development of submersibles. “We weren’t necessarily interested in the application; we were interested in the thick-walled composite for our applications. Albeit, they would’ve been loaded differently, we were interested in potential habitats, radiation shielding, you know, a number of other applications,” said Jackson answered. The board also heard from Mark Negley, a Material and Process Engineer for Boeing Co. He shared in 2013; Boeing entered an agreement with OceanGate for a preliminary feasibility study for a concept vessel. Negley testified the study came up with a seven-inch hull. As previously stated in the hearing, the Titan’s hull was five inches thick. Boeing worked with OceanGate again in 2016 when they assisted with tests to record acoustic emissions data, according to Negley. He testified Boeing did not manufacture any parts for OceanGate. When asked why Boeing stopped working with OceanGate, Negley replied, “we had a number of different requests from OceanGate to respond to different Request for Proposal. I don’t know exactly, you know. I think maybe we were too expensive.” Testimony was also given by two experts from the U.S. Coast Guard regarding vessel inspections. The board will reconvene Friday to hear from the last three witnesses on the schedule.