Elon Musk, the C minus Tony Stark we never wanted but have somehow been saddled with, is at it again. Fresh off of launching a sports car into space and inventing public transportation that already exists, Musk tried his hand at saving the Thai soccer team that was trapped in a cave. The news story captured the world’s interest, as search and rescue experts from all across the globe rushed to the Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai to lend their expertise.
As the search went on, Musk developed a “kid-sized” submarine and ran it through several testing phases, despite the Thai government telling him that it would be ineffective. Narongsak Osotthanakorn, the Thai Navy SEAL and head of the rescue mission, told BBC News, “the equipment they brought to help us is not practical with our mission. Even though their equipment is technologically sophisticated, it doesn’t fit with our mission to go in the cave.” Musk responded with this:
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
Moreover, based on extensive cave video review & discussion with several divers who know journey, SpaceX engineering is absolutely certain that mini-sub can do entire journey & demonstrate at any time.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 10, 2018
Dude. DUDE. This isn’t about you or your tiny submarine. It’s about rescuing CHILDREN TRAPPED IN A CAVE. Musk continued by tweeting about the harsh judgments people make about him since he became a billionaire (SO relatable). Maybe he can dry his eyes on all those dollar bills.
Ironically, the “billionaire” label, when used by media, is almost always meant to devalue & denigrate the subject. I wasn’t called that until my companies got to a certain size, but reality is that I still do the same science & engineering as before. Just the scale has changed.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 10, 2018
Meanwhile, people have taken to Twitter to mock Musk and his mini-sub:
ELON: Here’s a submarine
RESCUERS: We don’t need this
ELON: I’ll just leave this here
RESCUERS: We won’t use this
ELON: Thailand is so beautiful https://t.co/Kp4Ll3Ep4H
— Alex Fitzpatrick (@AlexJamesFitz) July 10, 2018
thank you so much to elon musk for leaving his trash in a cave. now that is epic
— the animal from hell (@BronzeHammer) July 10, 2018
The fact that Elon Musk’s first instinct was to build a submarine instead of paying the wages and damages of the volunteers already successfully rescuing those kids is an example of how good innovation requires listening to users.
— Annalee (@leeflower) July 10, 2018
Elon Musk didn’t save the Thai soccer team, but he will put them on a Tesla waitlist.
— Conan O’Brien (@ConanOBrien) July 10, 2018
In the meantime, all 12 boys and their coach were successfully rescued from the caves and are now receiving medical care. Congratulations to the courageous rescue team and everyone involved. Better luck next time, Elon. At least you tried?
(via BBC, image: PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images)
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