Originally Posted by machinbird
Wasn't that why there was an extended drying time in a specialized oven before reading the chips? It wouldn't make sense unless they had opened the cylinders and taken out the cards holding the memory chips. I would think that the main thing holding the ocean out of the memory modules was a well situated O ring on an end closure.
I thought I remembered that but I was not sure. I, too, figured it was an O-Ring keeping out the water. But I was not sure if they meant a bakeout without opening or after or both. (Again, I'd have done both. I'd not want to open the mailing tube and contaminate what was inside.)
Actually if it got wet inside I'd expect it to be VERY wet. And semiconductors do not like VERY wet at all. I'd expect the memory to have its own packaging. But that would be nothing to 3900 meters of ocean. If the O-Ring leaked an effective hydraulic machining effect would enlarge the hole and fill the tube. Hence, I suspect it was dry inside. Or else they got heroically lucky.