Elon Musk sends engineers to help Thai cave rescue mission

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is sending a group of engineers to Thailand to assist the rescue efforts of the boys soccer team trapped in a cave by flooding. 

“SpaceX & Boring Co engineers headed to Thailand tomorrow to see if we can be helpful to govt,” Musk tweeted on Friday.

SpaceX & Boring Co engineers headed to Thailand tomorrow to see if we can be helpful to govt. There are probably many complexities that are hard to appreciate without being there in person.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2018

There are already dozens of Thai Navy SEALs and international experts trying to find a way to save the 12 boys and their soccer coach at the Tham Luang Nang Non cave complex, where Musk is sending the engineers.

{mosads}The development comes as the frantic rescue effort has turned deadly. Thai diver Saman Kunan, 38, died around 1 a.m. local time while placing oxygen takes deep underground as a lack of oxygen becomes an increasing concern for those stranded.

The Thai government confirmed on its Facebook page that Musk’s engineers will begin assisting the rescue mission on Saturday, when more heavy rains are expected to complicate the already extremely delicate operation.

“Elon Musk will send his team to Thailand tomorrow to help in cave rescue. He may provide services for location tracking, water pumping or battery power,” the government said in a statement.

The group was found alive last Saturday after being lost underground for 10 days.

Musk had initially questioned whether he could help any rescue efforts, tweeting that his company “has advanced ground penetrating radar & is pretty good at digging holes.” 

Boring Co has advanced ground penetrating radar & is pretty good at digging holes. Don’t know if pump rate is limited by electric power or pumps are too smal. If so, could dropship fully charged Powerpacks and pumps.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 5, 2018

Maybe worth trying: insert a 1m diameter nylon tube (or shorter set of tubes for most difficult sections) through cave network & inflate with air like a bouncy castle. Should create an air tunnel underwater against cave roof & auto-conform to odd shapes like the 70cm hole.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2018