【英语科技】智利矿工大解救：七分科学 三分运气

One by one, they emerged through a swinging door, out of a pit a half-mile deep, pumping fists and hugging family. A great-grandfather. A 44-year-old who proposed a church wedding for his wife. A 19-year-old greeted by his father.

The most striking thing about Wednesday's ongoing rescue of 33 trapped Chilean miners, after 70 days underground, was how easy it looked. The Phoenix rescue capsule that gave each man a trip to freedom seemed more like an off-kilter elevator than a part of history's most audacious mining rescue.

Nothing about the San Jose rescue was easy, of course. Every aspect of the mission was planned and patiently managed, from initial efforts to locate survivors of the Aug. 5 cave-in to NASA's input on the rescue capsule that brought them home. Even so, as the 28th man and counting appeared Wednesday evening, Chileans acknowledged the proceedings were blessed with an element of luck.

'It was 75% engineering and 25% a miracle,' said topographer Macarena Valdes.

Ms. Valdes was speaking of her own role in the rescue, as she augmented science with a touch of gut instinct to help guide rescuers' probe drills into the rock, in hopes of finding survivors, in the days after the miners' disappearance. Her method paid off on Aug. 22, when rescuers bored a tiny hole into the chambers where the men had taken refuge, and the miners tapped back.

Throughout the miners' ordeal, and under an international gaze, Chile's rescue operation ran with surgical precision and extracted the men far sooner than the government's initial December estimate. As Wednesday's rescue wore on, miners emerged at an accelerated rate.

Florencio Avalos was the first to surface, shortly after midnight Wednesday local time, to a tearful reunion with a young son and a hug from Chilean President Sebastian Pinera.

The second miner out, 40-year-old Mario Sepulveda, appeared more than an hour later, pumping his fist and running around leading chants of 'C-H-I-L-E! Chi-Chi-Chi-Le-Le-Le! The Miners of Chile.' From a bag he had brought up with him, he elaborately presented mine rocks to officials.

Then they began to come every 45 minutes, and faster still. Following the late afternoon rescue of miner No. 25, Renan Avalos -- the 29-year-old brother of Florencio, the first out -- a government official who asked not to be named said: 'The Phoenix is now doing the round trip in about 25 minutes.'

No. 17, Omar Reygadas -- a 56-year-old father of six, grandfather of 14 and great-grandfather of four -- came out at noon Wednesday. It was his third time trapped underground.

No. 21 had explaining to do: As Yonni Barrios had waited to be rescued for weeks under half a mile of rock, his wife of 31 years -- and the rest of Chile, through the local media -- discovered that he had a mistress keeping vigil at the site, too. Mr. Barrios had been separated from his wife, the papers said, but had told her he was living on his own.

No. 24 was Jose Henriquez, 55, who had asked for 33 small Bibles to be sent to the miners so he could lead a prayer group.

With the rescue pod making the round trip faster every time Wednesday evening, the sun over the Atacama desert gave way to a cold night. Nos. 26 and 27 emerged. The mood turned visibly more festive.

The moment followed weeks of darkness that began with the Aug. 25 cave-in.

Looking at the survival rate of other mining-accident victims, it initially was hard for the rescuers to be optimistic. The record-holders for surviving a cave-in, three Chinese miners in Guizhou province, had chewed coal to sate their hunger during the 25 days they spent underground in 2009.

More typical was the 2006 accident in Pasta de Conchos, Mexico, where 65 workers were trapped deep in a coal mine after an underground explosion. In that case, rescuers considered themselves fortunate merely to have retrieved some corpses.

After the world lost contact with the miners, it was the job of Ms. Valdes, the topographer, to help set the direction of the drilling rigs that sent probes deep into the rock to try to locate any surviving miners. Through 17 days, it seemed hopeless. 'It was like using a shotgun to hit a mosquito at 700 meters,' she said. 'It wasn't impossible, but very difficult.'

Even after some 30 probes failed to find the mark, Ms. Valdes stuck with a hunch: She always shifted the angle of the drill about one degree lower than recommended by geologists in the planning department, to adjust for vibration in the drilling rig. One degree could mean a difference of several feet in the field, which could be a matter of life or death for the miners.

Her method finally worked on Sunday, Aug. 22, when the probe she directed found its way to the miners' underground refuge.

Then, rescuers developed their own technological arsenal, which combines modified mining gear with equipment commonly used by astronauts and submariners.

Rescuers began supplying the trapped men with provisions through a five-inch-diameter shaft. They used the conduits to send small tubes, known as palomas, literally carrier pigeons, ingeniously stuffed with essentials such as bottled water, camping cots and chest straps to monitor their health.

The lifeline gave rise to a high-technology life underground. The men wore clothing made with a bacteria-killing copper fiber, watched movies on a projector built into a cellphone, and communicated with rescuers over an ultra-flexible fiber-optic cable that maintains transmission capacity while twisting through rocky crags deep below ground.

Chilean officials assigned psychologists and a personal trainer by video conference to tend to the miners. Given the mens' sensitive condition, nutritionists cooked food at high temperatures to guard against infection by bacteria in the minutes between its packaging and its trip down the tube.

To bore through the rock to reach the miners, the government created a kind of friendly competition among three different drills, one of which was so massive it had to be hauled by a 40-truck convoy. Chilean Naval engineers worked overtime designing the 14-foot, 900-pound capsule that hoisted the men out of the mine. It was equipped with a communications system and oxygen supply.

Observers say some of the innovation and management reflects Mr. Pinera's background as a billionaire entrepreneur who ran a successful airline. Mr. Pinera made such a big bet on getting the miners out that a political scientist dubbed him 'the 34th miner' -- suggesting his own fate was linked to that of the men below.

'The government has done a superb job in boosting public morale,' said Riordan Roett, a Latin America scholar at Johns Hopkins University. 'Pinera has rallied the Chilean people, traumatized after the [February] earthquake, and has given his administration a human and sympathetic face.'

Hugo Infante/ Chilean government获救矿工Esteban Rojas在抵达地面后跪地祈祷。他们一个接一个地从半英里深处陆续升井，走出转门，击拳庆祝，与家人拥抱。他们当中，有一位曾祖父，一位44岁刚向妻子求婚的男子，一位19岁的男孩激动地与父亲团聚。

周三对33名被困智利矿工的营救行动最引人注目的就是它看起来是如此地容易。搭载每个矿工享受自由之旅的“凤凰号”救生舱，看起来却更像是一个奇形怪状的升降电梯，而不是历史上最大胆的矿难营救行动的重要工具。

当然，圣何塞营救行动的任何一步都不容易。救援任务的每个环节都是预先计划好的，从刚开始8月5日矿井塌陷后寻找幸存者，到美国航天局（NASA）对升降救生舱的指导，一切都经过精心的准备。既便如此，当周三晚第28位幸存者被救出地面时，智利人承认，救援行动中有运气的成分。

地形学者瓦尔德斯（Macarena Valdes）说，75%靠工程技术，25%靠运气和奇迹。

Hugo Infante/AFP/Getty Images智利矿难救援的胜利时刻瓦尔德斯说的是她自己在这次救援中的角色，在矿工们消失后的几天里，她将科学与自己的本能感觉结合，协助指导救援人员将探测钻孔器深入废墟寻找幸存者。她的方法在8月22日取得成效，救援人员利用探测器向矿工避难处钻了一个小洞，矿工们做出了回应。

在矿工们饱受煎熬的等待中，在全世界目光的注视下，智利的救援行动以外科手术般精准的过程运行，将矿工们顺利救出，远远早于政府刚开始预计的12月完成营救。随着周三营救行动的进行，矿工们被救出地面的速度越来越快。

当地时间周三午夜后不久，阿瓦洛斯（Florencio Avalos）第一个被救出地面，他激动地与儿子团聚，并拥抱智利总统皮涅拉（Sebastian Pinera）。

第二位升井的是40岁的赛普维达（Mario Sepulveda），他在一个多小时后被救出，边击拳边绕圈跑，领着大家齐声喊“智利！智利！智利矿工”。他从井下带来的包里拿出矿石，郑重地交给官员们。

接着，剩下的矿工轮流升井，每45分钟一位，甚至更快。在第25位矿工阿瓦洛斯（Renan Avalos）(他是第一个升井的阿瓦洛斯的弟弟，今年29岁)在傍晚升井后，一位不愿透露姓名的政府官员说，“凤凰号”现在往返一次的时间是25分钟左右。

第17位升井的雷格达斯（Omar Reygadas）于周三中午升井，56岁的他有六个子女，14个孙辈，四个曾孙。这是他第三次被困井下。

第21位升井的巴里罗斯（Yonni Barrios）需要特别说明一下：当他在半英里深的井底等待营救时，他结婚31年的妻子发现他还有一个情妇也守在那里，智利全国上下也都通过当地媒体知道了这件事。报纸说，巴里罗斯已经和妻子分居，但他对妻子说他一个人住。

第24位升井的是55岁的亨利科斯（Jose Henriquez），他曾请求给他传送33本小本《圣经》，成立一个祷告小组。

周三晚，随着救生舱每次往返速度越来越快，阿塔卡玛沙漠的阳光慢慢褪去，寒冷的黑夜来临。第26位和第27位矿工升井。现场的气氛显得越来越欢快。

在这一时刻到来之前，矿工们从8月25日矿井坍塌以来经历了长达数周的黑暗。

看看其他矿难中受害者的存活率，救援人员最初很难乐观起来。在矿井坍塌中存活时间最长的是三名中国人，2009年他们在贵州省的一处坍塌矿井中靠咀嚼煤炭充饥，在井下度过了25天。

更常见的是2006年发生在墨西哥Pasta de Conchos的那类矿难，当时一场地下爆炸令65名矿工被困煤矿矿底。在这起矿难中，最终只找到了部分遇难者的尸体，即便是这样，救援人员也认为他们够幸运了。

在外界与矿工们失去联系后，为钻探设备选取正确方向、以便探测仪能顺利深入岩石层锁定幸存矿工的正确位置，就成了地形学者瓦尔德斯的任务。整整17天，一切似乎毫无希望。她说，这就好像是用猎枪射击700米以外的一只蚊子，不是不可能，但极其困难。

甚至在约三十部探测仪探寻无果后，瓦尔德斯仍坚持了自己的直觉：她总是会把钻探设备的角度在指挥部地质学家建议的基础上再调低一度左右，以此来调节钻探设备因自身振动而引发的偏差。在地下，每一度就意味着数英尺的差距，而对于矿工们来说，这也许就是生与死的差别。

最终，她的方法在8月22日见效了。那天是个星期天，由她定位的探测仪找到了矿工们的地下避难所。

随后，救援人员开发了他们自己的技术装备，将经过改装的矿井设备与通常为宇航员和潜艇人员所使用的设备组合起来。

救援者开始通过一条直径五英寸的通道向被困人员输送补给。他们利用这个管道向下传递小的管筒，巧妙地在里面塞上必需品，如瓶装水、野营床以及用来监控健康状况的胸部绷带。

这条生命线营造出一种高科技的地下生活。矿工们穿着用具有杀菌功效的铜纤维织成的衣服，用手机中植入的放映机看电影，还可通过柔韧性超强的光导纤维电缆与救援者交流，这种电缆即便是在地下蜿蜒崎岖的岩壁间也能顺利传输。

智利官员还指派数名心理医生和一名健身教练通过视频会议的方式为矿工们服务。考虑到矿工身处的敏感环境，营养学家们抓住食品打包后等待通过管道运送至井下的几分钟时间，对食品进行高温加热，以防它们受到细菌感染。

为了开凿岩石找到矿工，政府在三部不同的钻探设备中发起了一项友好竞赛，其中一部设备太过庞大，以至需要四十辆卡车才能拉动。智利海军的工程师们加班加点忙着设计用于矿工升井时使用的高14英尺、重900磅的舱体。它还安装有通讯和供氧系统。

观察人士说，部分创新和管理举措反映出皮涅拉作为一名亿万富豪企业家的背景，他曾经掌管着一家成功的航空公司。皮涅拉花如此大的力气援救矿工，这使得一名政治学者将他戏称为“第34名矿工”，暗示他自己的命运与下面的人休戚相关。

约翰霍普金斯大学(Johns Hopkins University)的拉美裔学者罗伊特(Riordan Roett)说，智利政府在振奋民心方面打了漂亮的一仗，皮涅拉鼓舞起了在2月份地震后遭受心灵创伤的智利人民，也给他的政府披上了人性化和富有同情心的外衣。