US holds exhibition on Chilean miners

The National Museum of Natural History will hold a multimedia exhibition, exploring the rescue operations performed to save Chilean miners in October 2010. Against All Odds: Rescue at the Chilean Mine will recount the historic event in English and Spanish showcasing objects such as a Fenix rescue capsule, personal mementos and stories from the miners, new video footage and rare rock samples from the mine. Some 33 miners got trapped underground for more than three weeks after the San Jose copper and gold Copiapo mine collapsed in Chile's Atacama Desert, Artdaily reported. Organized by the Smithsonian in collaboration with the Chilean government and the miners, the exhibition will open on August 5, 2011. “The mine collapse that trapped men in Chile's San Jose Mine, Aug. 5, 2010, set the stage for one of the most extraordinary rescue missions in history of humankind-a triumph of technology and science, sustained by the endurance of the human spirit,” said museum director Cristian Samper. “This exhibition not only depicts the remarkable efforts that brought the miners to safety, but with the help of Smithsonian science, it provides a window into the harsh yet fascinating geological world that exists beneath the Earth's surface.” Against All Odds: Rescue at the Chilean Mine focuses on the geology of the Andes Mountains region where the San Jose Mine is located. The event also explores the reasons why the miners were there, how the mine collapsed and how the miners survived the mineshaft for 69 days. Visitors can revisit the extraordinary rescue, including a display of the capsule and one of the large drill bits used to reach the miners nearly half a mile underground. The exhibition will also include educational programs, tours, lectures and screening a feature-length documentary produced by the Smithsonian Channel marking the one-year anniversary of the rescue.