I'm glad we at least have the benefit in this day of the world being so interconnected that bright people can work on this all across the planet
Catching up more on this, what a terrible situation. Incredible resilience on behalf of the kids who have been down there for so long. I hope the various attempts that are being considered will pan out.
Any word on how the kids are handling this? I know there's a period of shock and such, but it's been so many days, I don't know what state of mind I would be in at this point.
I thought about that. It's awful to say this, but it's a question of logistics and time. A bigger pod wouldn't work, and Musk makes a point saying that it'd fit a small adult. Hopefully, enough for the coach, but I think it's undertandable and reasonable to take care of the kids first.
One of Elon's tweets said the pod fits a kid "or a small adult" but I have no idea if the coach is a "small adult". If he isn't, he will have to dive. Then again, he's the most likely to be able to dive successfully and not panic. It's also possible they may build a second pod for the coach while they are rescuing the kids (which will take a long time)
Its beautiful to see that the parents of the kids took the time to send a message to the coach to reassure him that they do not hold anything against him. This was known from the first moment of this ordeal ofcourse, but it is nice to see them express this once again.
There either wasn't any water in those portions of the cave when they willingly climbed through them or they squeezed through them out of necessity to avoid drowning in the flash flood that occurred behind them.
Can a mod PLEASE update the OP so that we don't have numerous posters on every page asking the same questions over and over and over and over? Update the OP to include info like: - how and why they ended up so far into the cave - why they went in to begin with - why the all water simply can't just be pumped out - what aid the trapped kids have received so far - address the BS comments that blame the coach, and/or demand legal action against the coach - why waiting for the end of the monsoon season is no longer an option - why drilling down to them isn't as easy as people think - etc. It is a much needed update to the OP
the pod is a great idea, it would be like a mini sub, better than them diving without any sufficient training
How workable could it really be if some of the areas are so narrow that they can't use oxygen tanks? We have no idea in what ways divers are having to contort their bodies to get through these areas. A solid object may not be able to get through.
I have to 2nd this. If Yukari isn't able to update, then a mod definitely should. With as much that's happened since the start, I'm really surprised the OP is as barren of info as it is.
Leave it to Era to complain about Elon Musk no matter what the situation. An 8 hour turnaround on a mini submarine is insane. No other billionaire would be able to do that.
This thread isn't about Elon Musk, so let's keep it like that. I'm not trying to back-seat moderate, but it seems like threads are getting derailed left and right then closed and reopened because people can't stop arguing about little things.
that's a valid point. If there are areas where a diver with a tank on the back can't fit through, there's no way you can make a pod small enough to get them through there ideally, they would create forward stations in the air-filled pockets between each diving section from where a team could assist with the rescue operation, and they could slowly move them out of the cave with stops in between instead of doing it all in one go and rotate the divers, but for that you need oxgen supply in every section, and with the incoming rain it's likely too late for this. The weather forecast from a few days ago showed that there will be a number of days in a row where it's going to rain as much every day as the rainfall that caused the flooding in the first place
I would be happy to add stuff to the OP. Can someone kindly point out the posts with the information?
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/07/world/asia/elon-musk-thai-cave-rescue.html Not according to this? It says he's sent (three) people over there to see how they could help, which is not the same as him being over there helping or that his submarine pod thing is actually going to be used. (The fact that he does have people over there makes his tweets seem even worse - Elon my dude let the Thai PR people disseminate information about rescue operations instead of acting like you're the authority here)
It'd be like a tiny coffin - the thought just makes me freak out. If it were me, I'd take the scuba option.
well, but you probably know how to swim, aren't a kid anymore, and not physically weakened. Adults have been saved from similar situations before, though in the case that someone here mentioned many pages back they already had scuba diving experience and it was still extremely stressful for them
i really hope this has a happy ending. i was terrified of caves before this but i will never step a foot in a cave ever again.
I don’t understand what your issue is with him or why you’re hostile against him? The belief was a mistake on my part as he directly said who was going in the tweet: It’s still beyond apparent that he’s involved and engaged with the effort albeit remotely and that his team are working directly with experts over there to try and find a potential solution.
My husband and I were talking about this tonight - what we would have done. When I was a kid, I was absolutely fine in tight spaces and not afraid of water. Now that I'm an adult, I'm freaked out by both. Even though I can swim, I almost drowned in college when we were sitting on some rocks out in a shallow river and the dam opened up and the water rose 6 feet in minutes. I had to swim 1/4 mile in 60 degree water and only survived because I saw a kayaker who pulled me the rest of the way to shore. After that, I never went near swimming in rivers again. As a kid, I would probably have been fine with the pod. Now the very thought makes me queasy. I'd choose the scuba option even though I've never done it.
It's uplifting to see humanity's better angels shine in these kinds of events, despite how dire they might be. I wish them the best of luck in rescuing everyone.
I've got a Open Water license and been diving about two dozen times, although very infrequently over a number of years and nothing comperable to cave diving. Been to a small wreck once even if I was technically not qualified for it, and swam through some relatively easy to navigate rock formations and tunnels. The kids have no experience and training, well they mostly can't even swim meaning they are afraid of water even under the best of circumstances, and now their lives are on the line, they've been down there for longer than two weeks and they'd have to do some challenging diving in very tight spots while being essentially blind in the muddy water, and the way out takes 5 hours even for the professionals my completely uneducated guess would be that it might be doable as long as the conditions don't change dramatically i.e. rising waters and strong currents, as long as they somehow stay completely calm and are able to follow the instructions of the rescuers for the entire 5+ hours (likely much longer) stretch. The less agency/responsibility the kids have underwater, the easier and saver the rescue operation would likely be, since the rescue divers know precisely what they are doing. Ideally, the kids would more or less behave like inanimate objects (bad choice of words, I know) that can safely be floated through the cave system
Thailand cave rescue: officials evacuate site for 'rescue operation' https://www.theguardian.com/world/l...ave-rescue-operation-divers-trapped-boys-live
Sitting here in my comfortable home but have knots in my stomach for them. Please please, no one die...
If they are doing it now, they gotta be really afraid more rain is coming. Hope everything works out without a problem.
Some reports said that the water level had dropped considerably, so it seems like this is the only real chance they've got: Musk did not have an actual plan, he was tossing ideas out on twitter.
So this isn't "emergency plan B", more that there were surprisingly good conditions and they decided to go ahead. Sounds promising atleast.
What i don't understand is even if they can't do a tunnel, or submersible or propelled unit, couldn't they at least do a guided rope system that the kids could hook themselves onto and pull themselves along? Thus making it so the necessity of knowing how to swim etc, wouldn't be an issue?
