A newly built capsule designed to pull 33 trapped miners to safety one at a time was unveiled Saturday at the San Jose Mine, NBC News reported.
Family members and journalists were allowed to check out how it will feel inside the nearly 926-pound capsule when the miners trapped in the copper and gold mine since Aug. 22 are finally pulled to the surface, likely in November.
The capsule named Phoenix stands nearly 10 feet tall overall but has interior space of a little over 6 feet in height and about 21 inches across.
Two backup capsules are due next week.
Carolina Lobos, the 25-year-old daughter of trapped miner Franklin Lobos, told reporters the device seemed very small and confining when she first saw it. But after trying it out, she called it comfortable.
"It's very exciting," she added.
The capsule comes equipped with three tanks of compressed air that would provide 90 minutes of breathing, Health Minister Jaime Manalich said, noting the trip to the surface should only take 15 to 20 minutes.
Specifications also called for wheels mounted on shock absorbers to maintain contact with an iron wall to be installed in the tunnel being drilled, an internal harness to prevent injury to miners, and a wireless communication system so the men can remain in touch with people.
In an emergency, such as the capsule getting jammed in the rescue hole, the bottom can be opened with levers inside so a miner can be lowered back down by cable, Manalich said.
Officials said they will test the capsule soon as drilling goes on. Plans for using a high-speed drill mean a tunnel could reach the miners 2,000 feet underground in the second week of October.
It would then take about eight days to insert an iron sleeve in the 28-inch-wide chute to prevent rock falls while miners are pulled out, officials said earlier this week.
The engineer in charge of the rescue effort, Andre Sougarret, earlier this week said the rescue capsule named Phoenix for the mythical bird that burns to ashes, only to rise again and live for hundreds of years.
Engineers viewed prototypes of the capsules Tuesday at ASMAR, the Chilean navy's shipbuilding operation in Talcahuano.