On this day last year, a terrible thing happened. A copper mine in Chile's Atacama Desert caved in, trapping 33 men more than 2,300 feet below the surface of the Earth. Over the next 69 days, world media focused in on the story and millions waited and watched as technologies were designed to keep them alive while a rescue plan was concocted. On October 13, the miners were pulled one by one from the depths by a special capsule co-designed by NASA and a bunch of governments and corporations.
Today, an exhibit dedicated to the miners' rescue debuted at the National Museum of Natural History in the institution's geology wing. Though small (just a room), the exhibit is packed with artifacts, most importantly the Fénix capsule.
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