Sign up for the Morning Brief email newsletter to get weekday updates from The Weather Channel and our meteorologists.
It fits five people, but there are no seats. David Pogue, a CBS News correspondent who went on the Titan in November, compared his trip in the 23,000-pound submersible to being in a "minivan without seats."
It looks like a cylinder with domes on each end. One dome is covered by a hoodlike fin. The other has a 21-inch portal that passengers take turns looking through.
It's 23 feet long, 9 feet wide and 8 feet high, according to its owner, OceanGate, a private company that provides submersibles for commercial, research and military purposes. A privacy curtain separates the toilet from the rest of the capsule.
(?LATEST ON THE SEARCH: Underwater Noises Heard In Titanic Sub Search)
The pilot uses a Logitech gaming controller to operate four electric thrusters that can propel the sub at about 3.5 mph. It also has flotation tanks that are flooded with water or filled with air and weights that can be dropped to provide positive buoyancy.
Pogue told NPR some of the safety features are designed to cause the sub to return to the surface even if the crew is unconscious.
When it's launched, the sub has 96 hours' worth of oxygen. The hatch is bolted from the outside, meaning the crew can't open it from the inside.
The Weather Company's primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.