You cannot fail to have noticed and been amazed by the recent events in Chile where miners have been trapped underground for sixty nine days. This engaging story came to a climax on 13th October as the rescue pod named the Phoenix made its first journey to rescue the trapped miners. After nearly twenty four hours and over seventy journeys later, the phoenix capsule, with integral shock absorbing caster wheels by Equip2go made its final rescue. Three rescue pods were designed by NASA and the Chilean Naval engineers and incorporated retractable casters at the top and bottom of the capsule to aid its journey through six hundred and twenty five meters of solid rock. However the final chosen pod, named Phoenix 2, was painted in Chilean colors and now symbolizes human Endeavour and cooperation that overcomes adversity and spans Nations.
This Phoenix pod was chosen for the rescue as it matched critical rescue criteria. It was narrow, with an internal diameter of 21 inches; light at only four hundred and twenty kilogram’s and small enough to maneuver through the narrowest part of the rescue shaft. The integral shock absorbing casters positioned at the top and bottom of the pod also ensured a smoother ride for the traumatized miners. The casters had the ability to absorb minor kinks in the shafts rock surface, ensuring the rubber wheels of the casters maintained contact with the rock at all times. Shock absorbing caster wheels by reflex equipment have the added advantage of being hinged on an integral spring. This spring allows the casters wheels to absorb variations of running surface and protect against vibrations. Shock absorbing casters also have the added benefit of reducing rolling noise. Even with the shock absorbing casters attached to the escape capsule, the escape must have been a frightening ride for the Miners.
Using casters on escape pods is not a recent invention, and the Chilean Phoenix escape pod was based upon an earlier German design. Back in 1955 three miners were trapped in Dahlbusch colliery in Germany and a similar torpedo shaped rescue pod, with integral casters was used to rescue them from 855 meters below the ground. This type of rescue pod was further developed and deployed on numerous occasions, in particular in 1963 when 11 miners were trapped, again in Germany. The ingenious design and successful pedigree meant the Phoenix pod with shock absorbing casters was the most suited for the Chilean rescue. The retractable casters aided the journey for the miners, which took on average fifteen minutes to ascend.
Author Bio: Pragnesh Patel is a Digital Marketing Consultant @ ourblogpost with more than 8 years of experience in SEO, SEM, SMO, blogging, etc having wide knowledge base into content marketing.
