Elon Musk’s Kid-Submarine Was “A PR Stunt,” Thailand Cave Rescue Diver Says

Megalith

Megalith

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Supporting the sentiments of Elon Musk critics who accused the business magnate of merely wanting publicity, British diver Vern Unsworth, one of the heroes responsible for saving twelve boys (and their coach) trapped in Thailand’s Tham Luang cave, called Musk's submarine "just a PR stunt" that "had absolutely no chance of working." Unsworth claims that Musk “was asked to leave very quickly” when he showed up.

"He can stick his submarine where it hurts," he said. "It just had absolutely no chance of working. He had no conception of what the cave passage was like.” Unsworth, a local cave expert who was one of the first on the scene, said the Musk-designed metal tube was far too big and inflexible to make it around the narrow passages of the cave. "It wouldn't have made the first 50 meters into the cave," he said.
 
Of course it was a PR stunt! Did anyone else think otherwise?

The fact the authorities even let him near the cave is shocking. I do think Unsworth's response is a little harsh, maybe a "thanks but no thanks" should have been in order. From all the cave diving I have done, nothing remotely near they confined spaces in this situation, I know you don't want to drag a 6' rigid tube. I certainly wouldn't want a kid trapped in the tube during the whole process.
 
At least he tried, what is that not good enough anymore? Does he have to succeed every single time? The more he fails the more Musk learns and the better his stuff becomes. Look at all his projects, they failed AMAZINGLY and then they got it right. If this round he didn't get it right he will probably walk away and come up with a better idea. I bet he'd use it for his Boring Company program if anything.

Still. a 6' sub? That's remarkably tiny...
 
Impossible I say, Musk is a *genius* in the sub game. Must just be another pissed customer since he cannot buy a $35,000 car. Next thing this guy will be saying that Musk is an egomaniac. :rolleyes:
 
Yeah like no one has done a PR stunt before. its just a big deal cause its musk
 
Dunno, I've seen a lot of Elon Musks interviews.

I mean, it wasn't a stunt when he slept at Tesla for weeks and weeks on a sofa getting his factory sorted out.

I doubt this was a stunt. I think it came about because he was asked and he wanted to make a difference. He is a billionaire. He doesn't need the PR. In fact, he took a risk in that someone could have very well been injured in the attempt to use his sub to rescue one of these kids. Think about it.
 
SixFootDuo said:
Dunno, I've seen a lot of Elon Musks interviews.

I mean, it wasn't a stunt when he slept at Tesla for weeks and weeks on a sofa getting his factory sorted out.

I doubt this was a stunt. I think it came about because he was asked and he wanted to make a difference. He is a billionaire. He doesn't need the PR. In fact, he took a risk in that someone could have very well been injured in the attempt to use his sub to rescue one of these kids. Think about it.
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He slept at his factory because he was wrong, like usual, about the model 3 production schedule that he touted to the world, and more importantly his investors.

Musk needs as much good PR as he can get given how (not) well Tesla is doing.

Can you prove where he was asked to make a shitty sub that in reality would not of worked.
 
FearTheCow said:
He slept at his factory because he was wrong, like usual, about the model 3 production schedule that he touted to the world, and more importantly his investors.

Musk needs as much good PR as he can get given how (not) well Tesla is doing.

Can you prove where he was asked to make a shitty sub that in reality would not of worked.
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Sorry, you just don't become a billionaire by being "wrong, as usual" Not even you believe that.

And, can you prove he didn't make a shitty sub?

You're one of those emotional types that live and breath television. You really think you know celebrities because you saw a news article?
 
Well then, let mercy and kindness be our forte and follow everyone for the rest of their days.(Irish curse)
 
Musk is a dbag to be sure, but I have no idea if this was just a PR stunt, or if Musk genuinely wanted to help and was floating ideas out of that desire to help, or if it was a combination of the two in some ratio or another. The fact that the diver is a legit hero, and while I do trust his expertise on whether or not Musk's ideas would have worked or not, does not change the fact that he did not know Musk's intentions either. So now he is a dbag too.
 
I recognize this guy's name, he mapped out the cave the kids got stuck in years ago and happens to live nearby, was one of the first on the scene to evaluate the situation and the Thailand junta listened to him when he told them to ask for outside help.

The thing is, this billionaire Musk responded to the ask for help. So it wouldn't work, Musk didn't know if it would help or not, but instead of assuming he couldn't help, he tried anyways. Its not like Musk is sending anyone an invoice. He even went to see why it wouldn't work so perhaps he could improve the design. Musk is an inventor, not a diving expert. All diving gear was at some point invented by someone like Elon Musk. This guy in the interview is both a hero and an ungrateful jerk, simultaneously. Musk never tried to take charge, never got in the way or made anything harder. What he should have said was "I'm glad he tried, its unfortunate that it could never work, but he did more than all the other billionaires on the planet combined, so we thank him for trying".
 
So he manned up on other things that employ his daily thought processes. The guy is boxed in on commitment. i'm still trying to fly my space suit with liquid cooling system that is actually a cholroflouride foam actually and the oxygen rebreather ziploch for emergencies. Micro meteors.
 
Seriously they ended up doing the same thing from the other side of the equation.
 
I am going to help end world hunger with some magic beans, you all are going to sing my praises now right?
 
Troz said:
Yes... a PR stunt, that the guy who co-led the rescue team wanted Elon to continue working on as a backup plan.
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The problem with painting someone as an opportunist is that you have to actually show motive and personal gain. Clearly this was tried by first saying the submarine was never requested or part of the plans (when clearly it was). Then (and now) they say it wouldn't work (which may or may not be true, but is besides the point - it was developed as an OPTION). They say his motive was PR...but if you follow his Twitter you'll see he had plenty of PR after this as he spent 3 days negotiating in China (with multiple photo ops). It's also hard to believe he'd get positive press being that journalists are making him out to be a villain lately and he railed against Facebook recently. So basically they're saying he spent time, money, and effort to get some Likes on Twitter? I sometimes think people have too much free time. "But why did he even go to Thailand!?!?" - do people not realize he also delivered other supplies before this? That he was already planning a trip to Asia (China)? I mean seriously.
 
I'm a SpaceX / Musk fan, so I thought I'd stay out of this conversation. But I'm pretty sure that it was Ajit Pai, not Musk, who was building that submarine. I'm pretty sure Pai said in an interview that it might not work for the Thailand rescue, but if it didn't it would always be useful for smuggling children out of pizza places.

I think I have a picture of him somewhere ... Oh, here it is!

ajitpai.jpg


Anyway, I can't find that article now, but it's out there somewhere, I'm sure you can Google it.


P.S. He still looks like a groundhog.

P.P.S. I apologize if this post has absolutely nothing to do with the article on the main page. By the way, here's an image of the submarine that Musk's team designed and built in 48 hours. The guy is right, it probably won't work in those caves.
 
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Pr? Sure. Did anyone else with tons of dollars try, well they are probably invested in non profits and don't need to try.

A sub is a bad idea and I'm no cave expert. I couldn't see a solid tube making it.

A team of professional divers and some amazing new way to store ultra dense air..... Plz.
 
In before this actual rescuer is an asshole and Elon is still the savior. Shit, too late.

I bet people saying this was PR last week is why Elon took his $35k Tesla off the website and went home.
:troll:
 
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Has any one investigated if Elon had the kids kidnapped and put into the cave so that the rescue could take place distracting the world from the real goings ons.
 
Eh... Musk had a plan, made what was necessary in a hurry, and delivered it, meanwhile some British diver goes on a rant telling him to stick his sub where the sun don't shine. Way to fucking go, that did it! Meanwhile aid given dies in cave.
 
the brit diver lives in Thailand and had explored the cave system for many years :- "
Mr Unsworth, who is from St Albans but lives in Chaing Rai, had been planning to go caving at Tham Luang on the day it emerged the Wild Boars team were trapped inside.

“I got all my gear ready, and I was going in to do a solo trip just to see what the water levels were like,” he said. “And I got called out at two o’clock Sunday morning, and I was there for the whole 17 days.”

Mr Unsworth’s intimate knowledge of the cave system, which he described as “second home” after spending six years exploring it, proved pivotal in the rescue mission. "

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-apos-stick-submarine-135400247.html
 
I can understand musk musk wanting to offer a solution to this especially after the 4 month estimate.

i was quite puzzled on why they were projecting so long .

then they lost a thai navy seal and i thought maybe it is really complicated after all.

look forward to more details on what made it so difficult and im sure the crash course in cave diving for the kids and the coach will be highly interesting as well .

from what i have gathered thus far that team was extremely fortunate that every thing worked out . as they were dangerously close to being lost forever.
 
Based on the video, I suspect Musk was just trying to help, Maybe the people was just annoyed that He was just there, felt that since they already have everything control they felt offended, I dunno, there is really not much of any other detail if Musk was "sincerely" trying to help or "sincerely" trying to be in the spotlight for a PR stunt. But given Musk's record, He just tries to help around, even though it does not work out all the time. I don't hate him, But I'm not a fan either. all good.
 
PR stunt or not, a lot of people would take the chance to trash talk a billionaire after their own success despite said billionaire's efforts.

I mean, how often do you get to take real potshots (beyond armchair quarterbacking) on a billionaire like that?
 
Master_shake_ said:
Imagine having your jimmies rustled so badly that you bad mouth someone who wanted to help save kids.
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Seriously. He sounds sour as fuck. Regardless of the fact that it was probably wouldn't work for the particular situation, a PR stunt would be a just a tweet. They wouldn't have made a working prototype and done all that testing for shits and giggles. There just may be another situation where it -could- come in handy.
 
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