Truth about Elon Musk’s ‘mini-sub’ as world turns on SpaceX founder

ELON Musk says his “tiny, kid-sized submarine” could have saved the boys trapped in a Thai cave. Would it have worked?

THE world is turning on billionaire Elon Musk after he labelled a heroic British diver who helped rescue the boys trapped in a Thai cave a “pedo”.

Musk made the extraordinary attack after Vern Unsworth said the Tesla founder’s attempt to build a “mini-sub” to get the kids out of the cave was a “PR stunt” that would never work.

But was Mr Unsworth right? The cave diver told CNN the tech boss could “stick his submarine where it hurts” after the young soccer players were extricated from their underground prison without Musk’s assistance.

“It just had absolutely no chance of working,” said Mr Unsworth. “He had no conception of what the cave passage was like. The submarine was about five foot six (1.7 metres) 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.”

Elon Musk shared video of the mini-submarine testing underwater in LA pool. Picture: @elonmusk/Twitter

The device was adapted from a ‘liquid oxygen transfer tube’ made for a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Picture: Supplied

The SpaceX and Tesla founder was told his device was ‘not practical’ for the rescue by the mission commander. Picture: AFP Photo / Brendan Smialowski

Musk then tweeted that Mr Unsworth should show him a video of the rescue, before writing: “You know what, don’t bother showing the video. We will make one of the mini-sub/pod going all the way to Cave 5 no problemo. Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it.”

He added, “Bet ya a signed dollar it’s true,” before deleting the tweets — but the damage was done.

Mr Unsworth said he was considering taking legal action against Musk, warning: “It’s not finished.”

The cave diver added: “I think people realise what sort of guy he is.”

BREAKING: Vernon Unsworth has responded to @elonmusk slurs about him. Says he can't put into words how he feels about the guy. He hasn't ruled out taking legal action. @7NewsSydney pic.twitter.com/4oJ8HSDrSk

— Mylee Hogan (@MyleeHogan) July 16, 2018

Glad to hear that. Engineering team also getting feedback from the British dive team on how to improve the design for future applications.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2018

pic.twitter.com/D1umiFDr1t

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 8, 2018

HOW WOULD MUSK’S DEVICE HAVE WORKED?

The metallic escape pod was an adapted “liquid oxygen transfer tube” meant to be affixed to a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Musk said it was “light enough to be carried by two divers, small enough to get through narrow gaps” and “extremely robust”.

The device was fitted with oxygen four ports front and rear so someone inside would not need to use breathing apparatus, and a nose cone to protect it from impact with rocks.

A “dual O-ring seal on acrylic rear plate” would allow a clear view of the occupant’s head and buoyancy could be adjusted by strapping diver weight belts around the body of the capsule — prevented from sliding off by the six diver handhold attachments.

The tech boss dropped off the device in Thailand in case it could be of use. Supplied from Twitter

Musk demanded to see the rescue video and said the device could have saved the boys ‘no problemo’. Picture: Supplied

Musk tested out his “tiny, kid-sized submarine” in a Los Angeles pool, before taking it to Thailand. He tweeted a short video showing it being inched through a metal framework supposed to resemble the tight submerged spaces in the tunnel complex.

With some of these just 38cm wide, the sub would have had to be immensely manoeuverable given divers have had to take off their oxygen tanks to squeeze through the narrow passages.

“Mini-sub is ready if needed,” Musk tweeted. “It is made of rocket parts & named Wild Boar after kids’ soccer team. Leaving here in case it may be useful in the future.”

The former Thai provincial governor (described inaccurately as “rescue chief”) is not the subject matter expert. That would be Dick Stanton, who co-led the dive rescue team. This is our direct correspondence: pic.twitter.com/dmC9l3jiZR

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 10, 2018

But mission commander Narongsak Osottanakorn said it was “not practical” and that rescuers would stick with the plan to swim the boys out.

“Although his technology is good and sophisticated it’s not practical for this mission,” said the former Chiang Rai province governor.

Musk fired back at this criticism too, saying Mr Narongsak was “not the subject matter expert” and sharing his correspondence with lead diver Richard Stanton, in which the team leader was supportive of his work.