A team of 12 young Thai soccer players along with their coach got trapped in a cave in northern Thailand last month. The CEO of Space X and Tesla, Elon Musk thought of a good idea of rescuing those trapped people using his “Kid Sized Submarine” that was actually a “liquid oxygen transfer tube” extracted from a Space X Falcon rocket. He offered help to the rescue team but they refused his offer, saying that the sub wasn’t practical for the rescue mission.
The team of 12 kids and their coach entered the cave on June 23. However, due to the torrential rain that caused the water level to rise rapidly, they were forced to move forward in the cave instead of going back in order to find dry land. Up until now, according to reliable local sources, 10 of them have been rescued and now the only coach and a child remain in the cave. Meanwhile, a doctor and a three Navy SEALs are also inside the cave along with minimal food supply since the trapped soccer team was first discovered.
Update( 7:13 PM P.S.T): All 12 boys and coach have been successfully rescued.
It is intriguing to note that Musk’s escape pod was designed in a way that it can carry one person in it at a time(with their arms crossed). Two divers were required for the navigation of sub, as it’s lightweight and can travel through the cave’s curves easily. However, rescue mission head Narongsak Osotthanakorn claims that the lives of people are not something to be experimented on. He further added;
“Even though their equipment is technologically sophisticated, it doesn’t fit with our mission to go in the cave. The equipment they brought to help us is not practical with our mission,” the publication also quoted him as saying.”
According to several media reports, the cave has become famous throughout the world and the rescue mission is also the first of its kind. Meanwhile, Elon Musk has left his submarine in Thailand so that it may help in future cases, as he tweets;
Just returned from Cave 3. Mini-sub is ready if needed. It is made of rocket parts & named Wild Boar after kids’ soccer team. Leaving here in case it may be useful in the future. Thailand is so beautiful. pic.twitter.com/EHNh8ydaTT
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 9, 2018
