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Elon Musk says Thai cave rescue could involve kid-size submarine

And the sub could be made from part of a spacecraft.

Edward Moyer Senior Editor
Edward Moyer is a senior editor at CNET and a many-year veteran of the writing and editing world. He enjoys taking sentences apart and putting them back together. He also likes making them from scratch. ¶ For nearly a quarter of a century, he's edited and written stories about various aspects of the technology world, from the US National Security Agency's controversial spying techniques to historic NASA space missions to 3D-printed works of fine art. Before that, he wrote about movies, musicians, artists and subcultures.
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  • Ed was a member of the CNET crew that won a National Magazine Award from the American Society of Magazine Editors for general excellence online. He's also edited pieces that've nabbed prizes from the Society of Professional Journalists and others.
Edward Moyer
2 min read
A family member prays before a shrine in the Tham Luang cave area as rescue operations continue for the 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped in a flooded cavern.

A family member prays before a shrine in the Tham Luang cave area as rescue operations continue for the 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped in a flooded cavern.

Ye Aung Thu/Getty Images

Elon Musk says a kid-size submarine made from part of a SpaceX rocket might be the way to save the schoolboys trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand.

The SpaceX and Boring Company CEO tweeted the thought Saturday, continuing his efforts to assist in a rescue. On Friday, Musk said workers with the rocket company and the tunnel-digging venture were on the way to Thailand to explore the possibility of using air pumps, an inflatable tunnel and ground-penetrating radar to save the children.

Watch this: Thai cave rescue: Elon Musk sends tiny submarine

In his Saturday tweet, Musk, who's also head of Tesla Motors, said the submersible idea seems most promising at this point.

"Got more great feedback from Thailand," he wrote. "Primary path is basically a tiny, kid-size submarine using the liquid oxygen transfer tube of Falcon rocket as hull. Light enough to be carried by 2 divers, small enough to get through narrow gaps. Extremely robust."

Twelve boys and their soccer coach were visiting the Tham Luang cave system in northern Thailand when they were stranded by floodwaters 10 days ago. More heavy rain is expected to flood the caves further, and sections of the passages out are too narrow to pass through wearing scuba tanks. Former navy diver Saman Gunan died after delivering oxygen to the children on Thursday, demonstrating how dangerous the escape from the caves would be.

CNET's Rich Trenholm contributed to this report.

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