A day in the life of the trapped Chilean miners
From working to praying, it's all about staying busy and focused
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Explainer: Trapped miners: A day in their life
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Chilean Mining Industry via Reuters
A combination of video grabs shows some of the trapped miners on Aug. 27.Could you hold up under the mental pressure of being trapped underground for several months? The 33 Chilean miners stuck since Aug. 5 face that struggle every day. Below is a look at what their typical day is like — and how it's been structured to help them stay busy.
Sources: La Tercera, El Mercurio, Newsweek, Associated Press
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Working
Chilean Presidency via AP
A drill is seen inside the San Jose mine on Sept. 17 shortly after the first bore hole was made.The miners themselves decided to break up into three teams, each doing an eight-hour shift. They work in pairs to help and monitor each other under the difficult circumstances.
Psychologist Al Holland, who was on a NASA team invited to Chile to advise officials, says it's crucial for the miners "to have meaningful work, not make-work."
To that end, they spend their time helping the rescue effort by maintaining machinery from lights to generators; improving the shelter; and cleaning up drilling debris that comes through the bore hole.
In addition, one miner has been chosen to be the overall manager, another is in charge of health issues and a third is their spiritual leader.
The miners provide urine samples regularly to send above ground, where they are tested for health problems.
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Resting
Ivan Alvarado / Reuters
A folding bed and supplies — including clothes, toiletries and games — are displayed Aug. 28 before being sent down a tube to the miners.One of the first things provided to the miners were cots for sleeping; they had to be foldable to fit in the narrow tube used to shuttle supplies.
A single music system was sent down with small speakers instead of headphones so the miners don't isolate themselves.
A fiber-optic line dropped down the bore hole projects movies, news and soccer matches on a 50-inch space on a cave wall.
Magazines, Bibles, books and journals to write in have also been sent down.
Once ventilation for the mine was approved, the miners also were given a small ration of cigarettes.
But they're not getting everything they ask for. A request for wine to celebrate Chile's Independence Day, on Sept. 18, was denied.
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Eating
Roberto Candia / AP
Cereal bars are placed in a tube being sent to the miners on Aug. 25.Luis Hidalgo / AP
Sandwiches fit easily into the delivery tube.Chilean government via AP
A miner displayes a box containing water.The ability to shuttle food down a narrow tube has not only restored the miners' health but provided an important daily cycle of meals that establishes a routine.
It not an all-you-can-eat diet, because the miners will have to squeeze into a 28-inch-wide rescue pod. Some have to lose weight, while others have to watch it. So health experts are trying to provide 2,000 to 2,500 calories a day to each miner. The miners also are supposed to drink 4 liters of water a day.
Sample menu 1
Breakfast: Protein drink, bread with honey
Snack: Dried fruit
Lunch: Rice and cabbage, pear
Snack: Protein drink, bread with pate
Dinner: Pasta, milkSample menu 2
Breakfast: Protein drink, bread with avocado
Snack: Pear compote with raisins and nuts
Lunch: Steak and beans, tomato salad, apple
Snack: Protein drink, bread with cheese
Dinner: Steak and potatoes, tangerineTwo miners with diabetes have slightly different menus.
For Chile's Independence Day, on Sept. 18, the miners feasted on traditional meat pies — two each.
But they had to make do with sodas because doctors vetoed their request for another national specialty: wine.
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Communicating
Alex Ibanez / Chile's Presidential Press Office via AP
Chile's president, Sebastian Pinera, holds the newly born daughter of one of the miners while speaking with them on Sept. 19.A live video feed keeps the miners in contact with everyone from their loved ones to Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, seen here holding the newborn daughter of one of the miners.
The family contact via video and letters is "a sacred moment" for the miners, says Alberto Zamora, a health coordinator for the rescue operation.
NASA's experts invited to the site cautioned, however, that relatives shouldn't get too focused on any troubles they might have above ground since the miners already have plenty to worry about.
And there's been tension with the sociologist working with the miners. "Everyone here hates him," one miner told his wife, citing his personality and the "pressure" he puts on them during therapy sessions.
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Praying
Chilean Mining Ministry via AFP - Getty Images
Some of the 33 rosaries, each in its case, blessed and sent by Pope Benedict XVI to the miners. Catholicism is the main religion in Chile.One of the miners, Mario Gomez, was chosen as the spiritual leader of the group. He was also the miner whose letter to his wife was the first written contact from the miners once they were found.
At 63 the oldest of the miners, Gomez is said to have been the first to urge his peers to pray for their rescue.
The miners typically "gather for prayer and reflection" after lunch, says rescue coordinator Jorge Diaz, "and that's not something we suggested, it was their decision."
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Miscellaneous
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Aliosha Marquez A / AP
A tube of dirty clothes sent up by miner Victor Zamora sits on a table Sept. 13 as his wife and mother read his letters. Each miner has family members camping out at the site, and they wash clothes for their loved ones.The miners send dirty clothes to the surface via the tube system that also allows their family members to send down fresh underwear, shirts and pants.
They're exercising regularly, sometimes with a trainer via video and other times alone. Sit-ups, in particular, are helpful for a slim waistline, which will be needed for the 28-inch-wide rescue pod that eventually will take the miners to the surface.
The miners also have set up a latrine area away from the working and sleeping quarters.
Gallery: Miner profiles, first moments of freedom
Read about each of the 33 miners as they are rescued.
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Above: Gallery Miner profiles, first moments of freedom
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Timeline Mine collapse
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