Elon Musk sends an 'escape pod' to help in Thailand cave rescue

Ashley Wong | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Elon Musk tests tiny submarine in hopes of aiding Thai cave rescue Elon Musk's Space X tested a "kid-sized submarine" in an LA pool that could potentially transport children through the flooded cave passageways in Thailand. A spokesman for Musk's Boring Co. tunneling unit said Thai officials requested the device.

SAN FRANCISCO — As an international coalition of divers continued to rescue a Thai soccer team and their coach from a cave Monday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk was trying to help in his own inimitable way.

Musk on Sunday tweeted that he was sending a "kid-size submarine" to the rescuers in the hopes that it would be "useful." By Tuesday morning all 12 boys and their coach had been rescued and were recovering in a nearby hospital.

Last week, Musk tweeted that he was sending a team of SpaceX and Boring Company engineers to Chiang Rai in northern Thailand on Saturday to help rescue efforts, supplying technology such as Tesla Powerwall batteries and pumps for removing water.

"Mini sub arriving in about 17 hours," Musk tweeted Sunday. "Hopefully useful. If not, perhaps it will be in a future situation."

The reason a submarine of any size might have been helpful to the rescuers is because exiting the cave requires negotiating long stretches under water, and some of the young Thai players do not know how to swim.

But Musk's mini-sub never made it into the caves. According to The Guardian, head of the joint operation command center Narongsak Osatanakorn said the submarine was "good and sophisticated," but not practical for the rescue operation.

Each rescued boy was escorted through the labyrinthine cave by two divers, each of them holding an oxygen tank that feeds to the survivor's mask.

In a series of tweets in the past few days, Musk chronicled the development of his custom-built mini-sub.

Simulating maneuvering through a narrow passage pic.twitter.com/2z01Ut3vxJ — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 9, 2018

More: Thailand cave rescue: Coach apologizes to parents; boys say 'don't worry' in letters

More: Elon Musk is sending a team to Thailand to help with cave rescue

Using a tube from a SpaceX Falcon rocket, Musk and a team of his SpaceX engineers created an aluminum pod light enough to be carried by two divers and small enough to squeeze through all of the cave's often exceedingly narrow passageways.

Musk posted videos and photos of divers testing out the submarine in a Los Angeles pool. In the videos, the divers move the mini-sub through a narrow passageway, simulating its use for the narrow caves.

The submarine weighs about 90 pounds dry and holds four oxygen tanks. It is outfitted with grips along the hull for divers to hold on to, according to his tweets.

Musk tweeted that the pod's design was based on feedback from some of the cave divers in Thailand. He also said that a shorter version of the pod was almost complete.

The submarine has been dubbed 'Wild Boar,' named after the young boys' soccer team.

Even though Musk's mini-sub was never actually used in the Thai rescue, the entrepreneur suggested its development has not been in vain. Musk's SpaceX company is winning government contracts to send payloads into orbit, but his real mission is to colonize Mars.

"With some mods, this (mini-sub) could even work as an escape pod in space," Musk tweeted.

Follow Ashley Wong on Twitter: @wongalum