British diver involved in Thai cave rescue slams Elon Musk’ sub as a PR stunt
Simulating maneuvering through a narrow passage pic.twitter.com/2z01Ut3vxJ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 9, 2018
According to Elon Musk, who took to his favorite medium — Twitter — to announce the news, engineers from both his ambitious companies will be heading to Thailand on July 7 “to see if we can be helpful” to the rescue operations. In order to assist with the operation, Must brought in engineers from Tesla and SpaceX and the Boring Company. On July 8, Musk shared images of a submarine his team had come up with in order to help rescue the trapped children. Musk recently shared photos and videos of a miniature submarine that could help transport the boys from the cave to safety.
“According to divers who have made the journey, this is capable of maneuvering through all passages,” Musk said on Twitter. He added that the so-called “kid-sized submarine” would arrive in Thailand sometime on Monday. “Hopefully useful. If not, perhaps it will be in a future situation,” the entrepreneur wrote.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 8, 2018
The news of the submarine comes a few days after Musk admitted on Twitter, “There are probably many complexities that are hard to appreciate without being there in person.” It appears that the executive has been mulling over the decision to send engineers for quite a few days. On July 3, a Twitter user asked the serial entrepreneur for his help in rescuing the soccer team, at which point, Musk responded, “I suspect that the Thai [government]has this under control, but I’m happy to help if there is a way to do so.”
Maybe worth trying: insert a 1m diameter nylon tube (or shorter set of tubes for most difficult sections) through cave network & inflate with air like a bouncy castle. Should create an air tunnel underwater against cave roof & auto-conform to odd shapes like the 70cm hole.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2018
“We are speaking with the Thai government to see how we can help, and we are sending SpaceX/Boring Company people from the US to Thailand today to offer support on the ground,” a spokesperson for The Boring Company told The Verge late last week. “Once we confirm what exactly will be helpful to send or do, we will. We are getting feedback and guidance from the people on the ground in Chiang Rai to determine the best way for us to assist their efforts.”
While Musk’s submarine made for interesting news and likely helped keep the emergency in the public eye, not everyone is thrilled with Musk. During an interview with CNN, Vern Unsworth, a British diver who played a major role in the rescue, grew exasperated with Musk when asked his thoughts on Musk’s submarine. Calling the device a “PR stunt,” Unsworth said that the sub’s design made it impossible to navigate the tight corridors of the cave.
The soccer team, comprised of 12 young boys, along with their coach, were reported missing in late June. They were exploring the Tham Luang cave complex in northern Thailand, which is known to flood during the rainy months of the summer. They were ultimately found by rescuers 10 days after originally becoming trapped in the cave and the last members of the team were extracted on July 10.
Updated on July 14: Updated with Vern Unsworth’s thoughts on the rescue sub
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Published at Sat, 14 Jul 2018 19:03:17 +0000
