Chilean Mine Rescue Pod is at Western Museum of Mining

Chilean Mine Rescue Pod is at Western Museum of Mining

Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA –

This month marks the international release of Patricia Riggen’s new film The 33. The film aims for a comprehensive look at the horrors survived by the men trapped underground as well as the international rescue mission that took place above ground.  In August of 2010, part of the 121-year-old San Jose gold and copper mine in the Atacama Desert of Chile collapsed, trapping thirty-three miners underground for sixty-nine days. In order to attempt their rescue, a team of experts from the NASA and the Chilean Navy designed and built three 54-centimetre-wide and 3.9-metre-long capsules, dubbed the Fenix (or Phoenix) I, II, and III. These capsules included state of the art features like an oxygen supply, a special lighting system, an escape hatch, a safety harness device, and an audio/video communication system.

ChileanRescuePodFenix2

These pods became the iconic symbols of this daring and successful rescue mission, and The Western Museum of Mining and Industry currently has one of only two rescue pod models on permanent display.
After a world tour, the original Fenix II rescue pod was reproduced for international display, and the Chilean Tourist Board selected the Western Museum of Mining & Industry and The British Museum in London to receive and exhibit these two impressive, full scale, replicas weighing 1800lbs each. On September 17, 2012, our Chilean rescue pod went on permanent display with the rest of the museum’s historically significant mining equipment.
So, whether you followed the story in the news, or are an avid mining and engineering fan, or just want the chance to step inside the pod that was so important to The 33, come to the Western Museum of Mining & Industry and experience the device that has been called “the talisman for the (Chilean mine rescue) story, forever more” and learn more about the dramatic Chilean mine rescue story that had the whole world holding its breath.

About The Western Museum of Mining & Industry:
The Western Museum of Mining and Industry is a private, nonprofit museum founded in 1970. We educate over 8,000 school children a year on the importance of mining in the American west. We offer public tours at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. We are located at I-25 North Gate Blvd., which is easily accessible from I-25 exit, North Gate Blvd. www.wmmi.org

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