rescue of the Chilean miners

[badgercat]

Is anyone else following this? What an incredible saga this has been. They've so far pulled out 3 of the 33 trapped miners without incident (knock on wood). http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11489439

:)

[ScaldedCat]

I always watch the news for a few hours first thing in the morning so am following it on the BBC. Apparently many of the miners are in better physical shape now than when they became trapped due to the NASA led exercise regime they have been following. Maybe there's an idea for an extreme health retreat in there somewhere. :p

[lph]

Their story is just amazing. I kept thinking about all those days before they knew they could be rescued. It took more than 2 weeks before they made contact! :eek:

And I wonder if any of them will crack once they're up again and the pressure is off. They have a potentially very stressful and unpredictable life ahead of them now too.

[Catrin]

They have certainly had a life-changing experience, regardless of what lies before them.

[tulip]

I watched the first two rescues; I couldn't pull away! But it was past midnight and I had to get some sleep. It's amazing, really amazing. If I didn't have to go to a meeting this morning, I think I would keep the live rescue feed on while I worked.

They'll be at it all day and night and into tomorrow, too. What a relief for the miners and their families.

[crazycanuck]

I think i'm the only person avoiding the media circus surrounding the event.

After witnessing the rescue of Brant Webb and Todd Russell http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaconsfield_Mine_collapse, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what the media will be doing to get "the best story" :rolleyes: and keep pestering the public with it.:mad:

There are other events happing in the world.

[OakLeaf]

Part of what's cool about this is all the psychosocial support they're planning to give the miners and their families to help them deal with the instant and temporary celebrity.

The rescue (and their survival up until the rescue) is pretty incredible.

[bmccasland]

Congrats to Chilipepper and your countrymen and women for pulling this off! :D

Here's to the rest of the miners coming out of that hole safely.

Are you saving a bottle of the good stuff for a final toast?

[badger]

I haven't watched t.v. for the past couple of days so I haven't seen any of it.

I must admit, the first thing I thought was "they must smell!"

Glad they're finally getting out, though!

[malkin]

I was looking at pictures and noticed that one guy had Oakleys and another, and another...

[KnottedYet]

The Oakleys were donated. Super-dark and polarized with full wrap-around. The miners' eyes are at risk for some hefty damage coming out into sunlight or the bright work lights after being in dim and dark conditions for 2 months.

Lots of companies donated equipment for this rescue.

NASA donated liquid anti-nausea food for them to prep for the capsule, a company in Virginia donated the safety harnesses, another US company donated the medical monitors each man wears in the capsule, etc.

[Trek420]

I was watching on a break and just saw the 25th miner come out. As the capsule went back down I think the crew was chanting "26 .... 26 ....." at least I think that's what it was in Spanish. ;)

Very moving. Now they are showing film live. I read when the first miner surfaced they would only show still shots on a 30 second delay because they did not know what condition they'd be in nor how they'd react.

Now it's live film. :)

Congratulations to all involved with the rescue. It's wonderful to see countries pulling together to pull it off. That's how it should be.

Congrat's to the people of Chile. :D

[uforgot]

I just saw the last one emerge. wow...what a wonderful day it was for their families.

[bmccasland]

Just heard on the radio that the last miner is out. Now they have to retrieve the 6 rescue personnel that went down to help get them prepped and loaded.

YAAAYYY!!! And the world cheered!!!! :cool::D

To my earlier post - like many things - it was an international effort to get feat accomplished. I still thank the crews from the Netherlands and Germany that helped pump out New Orleans. When things go really to h*LL in a handbasket we can pull together globally and get wonderful things accomplished.

[Irulan]

too bad the owner of the mine is nowhere to be found....:mad:

[ScaldedCat]

Who closes the door on the capsule for the last man down there?

[pll]

too bad the owner of the mine is nowhere to be found....:mad:

In early July, another accident in the same mine resulted in a miner losing a leg. The owners will be sued by the miners (represented by a law prof in the University of Valparaiso) and by the Chilean state. The government of Chile, through its national copper corporation (CODELCO), spent about $20 million in the rescue. It looks like one lawsuit maybe criminal and at least one will be civil, for damages. A judge already froze all the company assets and the newspapers already discuss what might happen to the San José mine and the other three sites.

[Trek420]

Who closes the door on the capsule for the last man down there?

The mine owner? :p