SpaceX founder Elon Musk, offers assistance in rescuing boys out of Thailand trapped cave

In recent days, Technological veteran Elon Musk posted on Twitter multiple images and footages of a metal tube capsule that could potentially extract the remaining eight boys and their coach out of the cave in Thailand.

Simulating maneuvering through a narrow passage pic.twitter.com/2z01Ut3vxJ

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 9, 2018

Musk's posted a video on his Twitter account, a group of people testing out the device in a high school swimming pool in Los Angeles. Another post by Musk displayed the pod’s ability to maneuver through restricted pathways.

The public’s response has been mostly supportive while some tweeters voice opinions on the capsule’s capabilities to pass through specific narrow passageways. Musk was there to clear up their doubts by talking about the “mini submarine” measurements.

According to Musk on 8 Jul, construction for the "kid-size submarine" would be accomplished in the span of 8 hours and be on a “17 hours flight to Thailand”.

Image credit: Bloomberg | Getty Images

On Sunday Jul 8, US and Thai officials confirmed that the Thai and international divers have safely rescued four out of the 13 people trapped in the cave. They had spent a total of 15 days in the cave and were escorted out by the rescue team.

Eight boys and their coach remain shut inside the cave due to the extensive tunnel structures that require optimal planning to rescue them. The incident has gained international notice, with the story being closely followed by media platforms all over the world.

Musk, who runs multiple American-based firms, including SpaceX, Tesla & The Boring Company, mentioned on Friday that engineers on his teams were traveling over to Thailand to assess the situation.

Based on feedback from Thailand, Musk explained the metal capsule would be "light enough to be carried by 2 divers, small enough to get through narrow gaps" in the cave, and "extremely robust." Musk showed a video on his twitter account, displaying the 1.8-meter-long metallic cylinder was able to fit a grown man, the diameter of the submarine measuring just 31 cm.

Rescue efforts were put on hold on 9 July, Monday morning for the team to restock on supplies and reorganizing their plans. Thankfully, divers have resumed their operations on 9 July, Monday afternoon to rescue the boys out. However, they have a small window of opportunity as forecasters predict that heavy monsoon rains are expected in the upcoming days, probably sealing off the cave until October.