The teenager who died aboard the Titanic submersible had high hopes for his future -- including breaking a world record ... which he seemed primed to do.
19-year-old Suleman Dawood -- one of the five passengers who perished in OceanGate's Titan sub last week -- had been on record as wanting to set a new benchmark ... namely, solving a Rubik's Cube thousands of feet below the ocean's surface and being the one to have done it at the deepest depth, around 12,000-plus feet under the sea.
A video that his family shot -- which is now making the rounds -- shows him cracking the toy puzzle relatively quickly ... at about 19 seconds. For the Titanic voyage, he wanted to do that in the sub.
Reports say his father even brought a camera to capture the moment, so it was definitely on his mind.
Of course, his family was incredibly proud of him ... and the guy had a lot of life to live.
His mother, Christine Dawood, recently did an interview with the BBC ... and it's heartbreaking. She says she was nearby when they initially went missing last Sunday and spent torturous days hoping against hope.
Sadder than that ... Christine says it should've been her on the sub instead of her son. She explains that the plan was for her to go with her husband, Shahzada, but she gave up her spot to her son at the last minute because he apparently really wanted to go.
In hindsight, Christine says she regrets that ... and goes on to say she misses her family.
Christine also says she and her still-living daughter have vowed to learn to solve the Rubik's Cube in honor of Suleman.
Authorities have said their sub imploded in the Atlantic, and all of its riders are believed to be dead. The question of when exactly that became known and why it wasn't communicated sooner is still being scrutinized even now.