Chilean president: Looking forward to imminent mine rescue
Yes, the Chilean president is looking forward to it. I'm sure the guys in the mine are, too.
They have to wait for some concrete to harden first, as it will serve as the base for the winch system.Chilean Mining Minister Laurence Golborne told reporters Monday outside the mine that workers are hoping to initiate the rescue beginning late Tuesday night or early Wednesday.
Though it may come even sooner, Golborne said, "We're going to take all the time necessary to assure that the plans are adequate."
That decision was made after the rescue capsule, called Phoenix 1, was lowered to 610 meters (about 2,000 feet), 12 meters short of where the men are trapped, he said.
"It fit very well," he said. "Not even dust fell inside."
Asked why the capsule was not lowered all the way into the mine, Golborne joked, "We could not risk that somebody might jump in."
Obviously, these guys were used to being underground for long periods of time before this, but working in a mine is far different from being trapped in one. They've also apparently made a vow to not speak about the first seventeen days after they were trapped. I assume there must have been some highly unpleasant "worst case scenario" type planning during that time period.