WATCH: This is the "kid sized submarine" Elon Musk is hoping can be used at Tham Luang cave

[atyclb]

12 minutes ago, JTXR said:

I used to admire Musk.  No more.  The shameless way he's inserted himself into the the news cycle, self-promoting and distracting from the real work that real experts are doing, is disgusting.  Continuing with press releases and tweets long after the rescue effort has begun (and is not more than half completed) borders on the pathetic. A rich, self-important attention addict.

 

 

would not be surprising to see musk continue development and donate the rescue pod to thailand or other in need recipient. is it not possible his intentions are good. many thought the kids would need to be in the cave for a long time.

[hobobo]

5 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Without having read the whole article.

Mr Tube: this is a risky rescue operation and not a field trial for some of your ex-centric high tech ideas.

Thanks for your goodwill, handshake and good trip home.

Please find another PR opportunity.

Mr Tube: you can't even build the cars on time; by the time your tube will be small enough and properly tested, you'll be asking for a new cave disaster closer to home. Get real!

[steve73]

I still think it looks like a big dildo....!

I suppose if you could get it through the squeezes into the chamber with the boys you ought to be able to get it out again.

But as someone pointed out - when empty it would have around 500kg of buoyancy - so would need approx. the same in (lead) ballast to allow it to sink.  (Has anyone tried to hold a large beach ball underwater..!!).. And then in the dry sections you would need to carry that 500kg of ballast... not easy.

It might work in a totally flooded cave rescue, but not here.

A simpler solution would be a neutrally buoyant lightweight stretcher, similar to the ones used for spinal/neck injuries which incorporates a head restraint to stop any head movement.  Combine this with arm, leg, & body restraints, and it would be virtually impossible to dislodge the face mask.... but the feeling of total immobility could invoke panic to the "patient". 

But the present method has now been successful for 8 of the 13, and so there seems little point in changing now...

Hope the rains keep away, and the last 5 (plus all the support divers) can make their exit safely tomorrow.

 

[Eligius]

38 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Agree completely. Their contact with the rescue divers throughout, even in murky water, is very important. At the narrow spots the diver in front physically pulls them through, they can feel that and feeling those human hands must make a difference. Of course they'd be pulled in the capsule too but it would not feel the same.  And the sense of claustrophobia would be an issue for many kids.

 

Nothing wrong with having developed this device and certainly, having done so, should extensively test it out in various simulations so that it can be fine tuned as needed and available  as an option in the future.

 

During an actual rescue operation is not a good time to deploy  a newly (and rapidly) developed device never before used, unless there is absolutely no other choice. So far at least there has been another choice, one that the experts on the scene thought the kids could handle and so far they've been proven correct.

 

 

Brilliant post.

Yes, the human contact is vital in a situation like this - something which the rather robotic Mr. Musk might just have overlooked ...

[duanebigsby]

I believe Musk's proposal is wrong for this operation. 

I also think it might be right for other applications.

While not going to be used here, maybe his ideas have merit for the future.

Give him a break, he tried.

[Sheryl]

Since this thread has descended into endless circular bickering, I am locking it. Will reopen if there are any actual developments related to the device.