Elon Musk Offers Boring Company Drilling Equipment to Rescue Thai Cave Kids

Elon Musk has offered on Instagram, to use the Boring Company's equipment to help drill another entrance into the cave system in Northern Thailand. The boys are trapped 1000 meters underground and 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the entrance to the cave. The passageway to the surface is almost entirely submerged by running water. The 13 boys aged 11 to 13, and their soccer coach, entered the Tham Luang cave system on June 23rd, and were surprised by early rains.

Rescuers found them on July 2, but there is no easy way to bring them through the passageways, which are challenging even for professional divers. The boys do not even know how to swim.

Musk revealed 6/28/18 that the first tunnel from his newest transport venture The Boring Company is almost ready and that the public will be able to test it out for free within a few months.

Musk made the announcement in an Instagram post that included a video taking us through the tunnel, which spans about two miles under the city of Los Angeles, close to Interstate 405 and the airport. The Boring Company last December released a map of its proposed tunnels for L.A.

In Musk's latest announcement, he revealed that The Boring Company will require regulatory approval before any public testing can take place. He said the tests will be free and that once the commercial version is up and running, going for a ride in a public shuttle should cost an individual less than a bus ticket.

The system would rely on a series of small stations about the size of a single parking space dotting the length of the tunnels at ground level. Here, public shuttles, which are are designed to be transported through the tunnels on electric sleds, would enter or exit the tunnel via a lift system.

Musk has said that thousands of the stations could follow the layout of The Boring Company's tunnels. The tunnels will also eventually support cars being transported, though Musk in March said The Boring Company, as well as a Hyperloop venture he's also planning, will prioritize pedestrians and cyclists first. He said this was chosen out of fairness to provide transport for those who may not be able to afford a car.