Elon Musk’s “kid-sized submarine” may save team trapped in cave

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After sending a team of engineers from the Space X and the Boring Company, Elon Musk, the founder of the both, as well as the Tesla, tweeted they are working on a “tiny kid-sized submarine” to rescue the soccer team in the cave of northern Thailand.

Elon Musk tweeted on the rescue operation.

This tiny submarine, using Falcon rocket’s liquid oxygen transfer tube, is expected to allow police to get the boys out of the narrow gaps without asking them to do anything since some of them don’t even know how to swim or dive.

In his reply to the Twitter users, he said that the submarine is “fitted for a kid or small adult to minimize open air,” with compartments to add weights to account for buoyancy. He also explained that the pod has both front and rear handles, and tank connectors to hold four tanks.

Elon Musk /VCG Photo

But given the current condition, Musk’s idea has not been officially approved by the government. “With all due respect to Mr. Musk, I am not sure that he or his engineers have a real good handle on exactly what they’re dealing with in this particular situation,” said Anmar Mirza, a coordinator at the National Cave Rescue Commission.

Previously, because the Boring Company is known for tunnel construction, the technicians considered pumping the water through and out of the cave, creating an underwater air tunnel. But due to the coming floods, time for digging such a tunnel may seem less possible.

Elon Musk tweeted on the rescue operation.

On Saturday, the Thai government posted on Facebook that it was anticipating Elon Musk’s team, which may “provide services for location tracking, water pumping or battery power”, to the current operation.

The boys and the coach have been trapped in the cave for several days. Many rescue operations have been announced since they were discovered, and 18 divers - 13 foreign and five from the Thai Navy - are involved in the rescue mission. But unfortunately, one diver from the Navy died earlier this week while trying to send oxygen tanks to the boys.

A truck carrying oxygen tanks arrives outside the Tham Luang cave complex, where 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach are trapped inside a flooded cave, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand, July 8, 2018. /VCG Photo

While the people in the cave are currently safe, the situation is not totally positive. The oxygen level where they are is relatively low, and besides that, Thailand is just entering its rainy season. The heavy rain continue to flood the cave, raising the water level, which will add to the threat of drowning.

A Thai army commander said today that the ongoing rescue of the 12 boys and their coach could take 2-4 days depending on the conditions inside the partially flooded cave.

[With inputs from other agencies]