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Elon Musk's submarine was a small rescue pod designed at the request of Elon Musk to aid efforts to rescue a group of boys an one adult trapped in Tham Luang cave in June and July 2018. While the submarine was ultimately never used, and the people in the cave were rescued by rescue divers with help of diving equipment, the initiative caught attention among the already heavy media coverage of the incident.
Musk, responding to requests for help from Twitter users, ordered engineers from two of his companies to design a "kid-sized" submarine to help the rescue effort and publicised the process via Twitter. Engineers at Musk's companies SpaceX and The Boring Company built the mini-submarine out of a Falcon 9 liquid oxygen transfer tube and personally delivered it to Thailand. In case the mini-submarine could not fit through the cave system, Elon Musk also requested Wing Inflatables, a California-based inflatable boat manufacturer, to build inflatable escape pods. The pods were designed, fabricated, and tested in one day before being flown to Thailand. By this time, eight of the twelve children had already been rescued and Thai authorities decided not to use the submarine, describing it as technologically impressive but impractical.
Design and operation
The device was named “Wild Boar” after the children’s soccer team. It is a five-foot-long sealed tube weighting about 90 pounds. The hull was an already built liquid oxygen transfer tube for the company's Falcon 9 rocket. With no propulsion of its own, it was intended to be pulled by divers through the cave system.
The head of the device is a cone that protects the air lines point of attachment and may guide the hull in the narrow passages of the cave. The rear hatch is an transparent acrylic disc that would allow divers to see the occupant.
Viability
The supervisor of the rescue operation Narongsak Osatanakorn dismissed the submarine as “not practical for this mission”. The British rescue caver, Vern Unsworth, who had been exploring the cave for the past six years and who had originally located the trapped football team, said that Musk's idea "had absolutely no chance of working....the submarine, I believe, was about five foot six long, rigid, so it wouldn’t have gone round corners or round any obstacles. It wouldn’t have made the first 50 metres into the cave from the dive start point." Richard Stanton, leader of the international diving team, had earlier urged Musk to continue construction of the mini-submarine as a back-up, in case the flooding worsened.
The device could safely hold an occupant, but it was not clear that it could have been used at this operation, as its rigid body was only slightly smaller than the narrowest passages in the cave.
Media coverage and Musk's behavior
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2018) |
One of the divers said to have played a "major role" in the rescue criticized the submarine as amounting to nothing more than a "PR stunt", adding that Musk "can stick his submarine where it hurts". Musk reasserted on Twitter that the device would have worked and name-called the diver with an unsubstantiated slur, causing backlash against Musk. He subsequently deleted the tweets, along with an earlier tweet in which he told another critic of the device "Stay tuned jackass". On 16 July, the diver stated that he was considering legal action in relation to Musk's comments.
After Musk's Tweets, Tesla shares fell 4% as some investors worried about his erratic behavior. Tesla investors subsequently demanded that Musk apologize. Two days later, Musk issued an apology for his remarks: "The fault is mine and mine alone" and "...my words were spoken in anger..."
Nick Bilton of Vanity Fair wrote that episodes like this one are tests for how people feel about Silicon Valley billionaires shaping society through technology. Bilton compared Musk with Iron Man's fictional industrialist Tony Stark, acting as a superhero when building a mini-sub for saving "a bunch of teenagers and their soccer coach" in what was seen as a publicity stunt, and said that "people can’t agree if he is a good guy or a bad guy".
References
- ^ Glaser, April. "Elon Musk Is Trying to Aid the Thai Cave Rescue by Sending His Engineers and Brainstorming on Twitter". Slate. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - "Commentary: Kids suffer worldwide. So, why are the Thai boys special?". mystatesman. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
- ^ Bilton, Nick (2018-07-12). "Elon Musk: Genius, Jesus, or "the Best Used-Car Salesman on Earth"?". The Hive. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
- "Elon Musk joins effort to free Thai boys from cave, as immediate diving attempt ruled out".
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=requires|archive-url=(help) - "Elon Musk says SpaceX is building a 'kid-sized submarine' to rescue trapped soccer team". The Verge. Archived from the original on 8 July 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - Ferris, Robert (10 July 2018). "Elon Musk says his 'mini-submarine' can be used for other things". CNBC. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- "Arcata's Wing Inflatables, SpaceX collaborate on Thailand cave rescue". madriverunion.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|website=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - "Answering Elon Musk's call for help to build Thailand's cave rescue pod in 24 hours". teslarati.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|website=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - "Thai cave rescue: Elon Musk delivers tiny submarine, rescuers say no thanks". ABC News. 10 July 2018. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - Rawlinson, Kevin (10 July 2018). "Elon Musk queries expertise of Thai cave rescue officials". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "Let's Talk About Elon Musk's Submarine". Hackaday. 2018-07-17. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
- Chris Baynes (14 July 2018). "Elon Musk can 'stick his submarine where it hurts', says British caver who helped rescue Thai schoolboys". Independent. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
- David Z. Morris (15 July 2018). "Elon Musk Calls Diver in Thai Soccer Team Rescue a Pedophile". Fortune. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- "Richard Stanton email correspondence". twitter.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|website=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - Michaels, Matthew (15 July 2018). "Elon Musk calls British diver from the Thai cave rescue a 'pedo guy' after he said Elon 'can stick his submarine where it hurts'". Business Insider. Business Insider. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ^ Levin, Sam (15 July 2018). "Elon Musk calls British diver in Thai cave rescue a 'pedo' in baseless attack". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- "British caver 'could sue' Elon Musk". BBC News. 2018-07-16. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
- Safi, Michael; Levin, Sam (16 July 2018). "British cave diver considering legal action over Elon Musk's 'pedo' attack". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
- Kelleher, Kevin (16 July 2018). "After Elon Musk's 'Pedo' Tweet, Tesla Shares Fall 4% as Some Investors Worry About His Erratic Behavior". Fortune. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - Levin, Sam (17 July 2018). "Tesla investors demand Elon Musk apologize for calling Thailand diver 'pedo'". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - Browne, Ryan. "Elon Musk apologizes to British cave diver following baseless 'pedo guy' claim". CNBC. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - Chang, Charis (18 July 2018). "Elon Musk apologises for calling Thai rescue diver a 'pedo'". news.com.au. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - "Twitter". 17 July 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - Van Boom, Daniel (18 July 2018). "Elon Musk apologises for calling Thai cave rescue diver 'pedo guy'". CNET. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
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