Elon Musk sends engineers from his Boring Company to help Thai cave rescue mission - and proposes creating underwater air tube for the children to crawl through
By Tim Collins and Connor Boyd
Daily Mail
July 6, 2018
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has dispatched his top engineers to help rescue 12 schoolboys and their football coach trapped in a flooded Thai cave.
On Twitter, Musk suggested using an underwater air tube could be created for the children to crawl through.
The 47-year-old said his Boring Co, which digs tunnels for advanced transport systems, could feed a nylon tube into the submerged sections of the cave before inflating it 'like a bouncy castle' to create an underwater tunnel.
Musk said engineers from his Boring Co and SpaceX companies needed to be on site to oversee the evacuation.
The schoolboys are trapped 2.600 ft (800 m) underground, the equivalent of two Empire State Buildings stacked on top of one another.
A spokesman for The Boring Company told the BBC: '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.
'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.'
This is not the first time Musk has been approached to assist in a disaster zone.
The Puerto Rico government called on the 47-year-old billionaire for help last year, after a devastating hurricane hit the Caribbean island.
As well as providing expert advice to help rebuild the island’s infrastructure, electric automaker Tesla sent high-capacity battery packs to help keep the lights on in local homes and businesses.
When asked for his input on the ongoing rescue efforts in Thailand, Elon Musk initially suggested using an 'advanced ground penetrating radar' to help rescuers.
Tesla could supply 'fully charged Powerpacks and pumps' to help remove water from the cave network, Musk added.
The SpaceX found then tweeted with the idea of inserting an inflatable nylon tube into the cave system to create an underwater tunnel.
Battery packs and air pumps would be used to inflate the nylon tubes, submerged underwater. These tubes would provide an escape tunnel the children could crawl through to safety, Musk suggests.
Speaking to MailOnline about the escape idea proposed by the Tesla co-founder, Professor of Geology at the University of Aberdeen, John Howell said ‘if anyone could do it would probably be [Musk]’.
‘It’s a clever idea and, in theory, there is no reason as to why it wouldn’t work,’ said Dr Howell.
However, the academic warned that feeding a nylon tube through a limestone cave network could lead to tears in the fabric – instantly flooding the escape tunnel.
‘It is limestone so the rock is going to be very sharp and irregular,’ he warned.
‘It will also need to be used by several people at once, increasing the risk of a tear. One rip and it’s going to fill up with water instantly.’
The other problem with the plan is transporting the nylon tube through to the trapped schoolchildren in the first place.
‘Professional divers have struggled to get through to the boys as it is, one of them died earlier today,’ Dr Howell added. ‘Imagine this but also trying to drag a one-kilometre long tube behind you.’
In conclusion, Dr Howell said: ‘the practicalities make me think it is not possible.’
Professor John Gunn from the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham and chair of the cave research association, also has reservations about details of the scheme.
He said: 'If you imagine a tunnel under London flooded, this this would be straight with a few bends.
'However, this is more like asking to thread a pipe through all the aisles of a supermarket, up the stairs, down the stairs and then back through the aisles and also in total darkness and underwater.
'You can see it is more complicated. If he was proposing the pipe is moved by divers then I think that’s a non-starter.'
Musk's approach is opposed to a second proposed method where engineers would drill down to access the tunnels.
However, drilling expert Kelvin Brown, who was part of the team that rescued 33 Chilean miners in 2010, said there are lots of variables and risks when drilling into the cave system.
He said detailed maps were available for the Chilean mines, which helped the team determine how the rigs were going to behave.
Information about the layout of the Thai caves remains scarce.
As a result, Mr Brown said drilling into unknown areas could result in the trapped boys being hit by falling boulders.
Peter Styles, Professor of Applied and Environmental Geophysics at Keele University, added: 'It may be worth trying to see whether there is access into the cave where they are from the surface or whether it is feasible to make one if there isn't a natural access.
'If it is already partly connected it would be feasible but tricky.
'To drill a shaft big enough to get folks through in virgin rock is difficult but not impossible, as the other alternative may be to wait for the waters to fall which, as they have said, may be months.'
None of the 12 boys can swim or dive, which rescuers said will be essential in freeing them.
Experts are concerned about the affect the conditions facing the youngsters may be having on their well being.
'Many of the young people trapped in the cave in Thailand are likely to develop new psychological symptoms in the short-term,' said Dr Andrea Danese, head of the stress & development lab at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London.
'They may become fearful, clingy, or jumpy; they may be fear for their safety; they may become very moody or easily upset.
'In contrast, they may become detached or numb; or they may develop headache and stomach-ache related to the intense distress.
'Most of these young people will recover from these symptoms in a few weeks at most.
'However, we can expect that a sizeable proportion involved, between 10 and 20 per cent, will develop more enduring mental health problems related to the trauma, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, or conduct problems.'
An alternative escape route has been proposed by Senior Thai army officer Chalongchai Chaiyakum.
He said that around 200 people were exploring the hill to try to find a shaft that could be used to access the tunnels.
One team travelled 1,000ft (300m) down a shaft on Thursday, he said, before reaching a dead end.
It comes after a Thai Navy SEAL diver died while taking supplies to the trapped schoolboys.
Saman Kunan died after running out of oxygen in the cramped, waterlogged passageways of the Tham Luang caves in northern Thailand.
The 38-year-old was trying to reach a cavern set up as a command centre 1.2miles inside the caves and had been leaving oxygen tanks around the network as part of preparations for rescuing the 12 young footballers. But he ran out of air at 2am local time and his diving partner was unable to revive him.
His body will be flown to his hometown in Roi Et for a royally-sponsored funeral, the Thai king announced. Pictures today showed military officials transporting his flag-draped coffin.
It comes as footage emerged of Kunan at an airport preparing to fly out to join the rescue mission and revealing how he hoped to 'bring the kids home.'
The children have now been stuck underground for nearly two weeks.
1 comment:
This is a really great idea....in theory. In practice the cost of failure would be very, very high indeed. It still might turn out to be a reasonable risk under the circumstances, but it is not a clear, sure winner of an idea.
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