In October 2010 the eyes of the world were on the Atacama Desert in Chile. It looked like there was a good chance that the rescue would come soon of the miners who had been trapped underground since early August.

The Chileans called on NASA's experience of space age technology and dealing with life support in a hostile environment. Here is the story of how NASA aided in the rescue of on October 12/13.

My gosh, Mona .... this is a fantastic article. I remember keeping updated on this incident daily and cried when the miners came up out of the mine. It was a very emotional time for all who watched.

Well done, Mona, well done.

It's September 7, 2020 now. On this day in 2010, 33 Chilean miners had already been trapped underground for over a month. Because it was too dangerous to try to drill through the fallen rock of the mine collapse, the men would be in their deep prison for over another month. The Chilean government asked, among others, NASA for assistance. Here's the story of how NASA aided in the rescue.

The Fénix 2 rescue capsule was designed to pull the 33 miners one at a time out of the San José mine. This capsule was put on display in the Atacama Regional Museum, Copiapo, Chile.

The Fénix capsules were designed by the Chilean Navy, in collaboration with NASA. They have a diameter of 54 centimetres (21 in), so it was a close fit. A harness held the occupant and there was an oxygen supply. A microphone with speakers connected the miners with the rescuers at the surface during the rescue.