As we told you earlier, divers were able to begin rescuing the trapped kids from the flooded cave in Thailand with 4 reportedly successfully evacuated today and another rescue attempt scheduled for Monday:
WATCH: Thai cave rescue resumes for the remaining 8 boys and their coach who are still trapped after 4 were saved. CBSN live coverage begins now: https://t.co/7t4157A3on pic.twitter.com/oHclre4P4F
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 9, 2018
But in the meantime, inventor Elon Musk is busy preparing for Plan B: An escape pod:
Some good feedback from cave experts in Thailand. Iterating with them on an escape pod design that might be safe enough to try. Also building an inflatable tube with airlocks. Less likely to work, given tricky contours, but great if it does.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 7, 2018
Now, as we told you, there is a treacherous bend in the cave where divers have to actually remove their tanks to get through so we’re not sure this escape pod will even work, but it’s pretty amazing that he was able to put this together in a couple of days:
Got more great feedback from Thailand. Primary path is basically a tiny, kid-size submarine using the liquid oxygen transfer tube of Falcon rocket as hull. Light enough to be carried by 2 divers, small enough to get through narrow gaps. Extremely robust.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 7, 2018
Musk posted videos of the test on Saturday:
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1016029967270928384
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1016060413476143104
Now for the surprise: There’s actually a guy in that thing ==>
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 8, 2018
***
WHOA: This chart shows the incredible difficulty and danger involved with the Thailand cave rescue https://t.co/tMWmsolvBI
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 8, 2018
NOT appropriate: Dick Durbin embarrasses himself with HIGHLY insensitive comparison https://t.co/CDRCy4p7V4
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 8, 2018
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