The US sends its "experts" to Chile for what? To offer not so much technical advice about the rescue operation but something that has the ring of moral advice:

"We've been very impressed with the organisation of the team and the quality of the medical care that's been provided," Nasa's team leader, Dr Michael Duncan, said at a news conference on Wednesday.

"And we've been very impressed also with the courage and the organisation that the miners have provided themselves in this very difficult circumstance," he added.

He recommended that the miners did not consume alcohol or smoke cigarettes.