This timeline shows exactly how the Thai cave rescue unfolded

The boys were apparently performing a sort of initiation ceremony in the cave, and got stuck when the cave flooded, blocking their way out.

Park officials discover the boys' bikes at the entrance to the cave, and worried parents call the police when they realize their children are missing.

A major search and rescue operation is launched to find them.

Nine days later, divers find all 12 boys and their coach, huddled together above the lapping water in the cave — 2.5 miles from the entrance.

The coach of the soccer team, Ekkapol Chantawong, taught his players how to meditate so they could stay calm and conserve energy while they waited to be rescued. Divers found the team meditating when they arrived at the cave.

Thai Navy SEAL divers and rescue workers entered a narrow passageway after passing through a key chamber where high, murky waters had previously blocked their progress.

In the course of their search, rising water filled sections of the cave, repeatedly forcing them to withdraw for safety reasons.

When water levels dropped, the divers went forward with a more methodical approach, deploying a rope line and extra oxygen supplies along the way.

There are three options available: teach the boys to swim out with scuba gear, drag them out of the cave, or leave them with supplies to wait until the water drains away after the monsoon season ends in four months.

While they try to figure out the best option, divers and medical professionals stay with the boys and deliver medicine and food to increase their strength.

Swim lessons are rare in Thailand, where the leading cause of death for children under 15 is drowning. So the boys had to learn how to swim and dive before they could start their journey out of the cave.

Thai Navy SEAL divers worked on installing a fiber-optic cable so the team could get on the internet and talk to their families.

Three expert cave divers from the UK and a team of 30 divers from the US military's Indo-Pacific Command begin working with the Thai Navy SEALS. China and Australia also sent experts and rescue workers to Thailand.

Israel's Maxtech Networks provided radio devices that helped rescuers maintain communication with the soccer team after they were discovered in the cave. The devices provided voice, data, and video access.

Rescuers can now enter the cave up until the third chamber, located about 1 mile from the cave's entrance without using scuba gear.

Hundreds of pumps drain floodwaters from the cave, and water levels are reduced about 40% in some areas. But miles of the tunnel is still full of water. According to The Guardian, about 3,400 gallons of water are being pumped out of the cave per hour.

If they can drain enough water out of the cave, the boys could maybe even walk out.

Oxygen is pumped into the cave to aid in their recovery. At least two of the boys and the coach are exhausted and malnourished.

The diver, identified as 38-year-old Saman Kunan, had been delivering oxygen along the cave for the boys and coach, when he died due to lack of oxygen.

It was the only fatality from the rescue.

Oxygen levels in the cave have been quickly depleted by an influx of rescue workers in the cave, and levels in the area where the boys are trapped have dropped from the usual 21% to 15%.

Officials begin working to supply the boys and their coach with oxygen through a 3-mile cable running through the cave's winding chambers.

The only way to bring them out of the cave is by navigating dark and tight passageways filled with muddy water and strong currents. The path out is considered especially complicated because of twists and turns in narrow flooded passages, some only 2 feet wide.

Two divers accompany each boy, guided by rope. The boys then walk from Chamber 3 to the mouth of the cave, which has been mostly drained over the last few days of the rescue operation.

The four children were healthy and taken to the local hospital after being rescued. The rescue mission concludes for the night because of low oxygen levels.

Elon Musk said on Twitter July 4 he was "happy to help" the Thai government in its rescue effort "if there is a way to do so", and continued to post about the rescue mission over the coming days.

Thai authorities and representatives for Musk begin discussing the possibility of using resources from Musk's companies to help rescue the boys' in the cave, including using technology from SpaceX, Tesla, or The Boring Company.

Musk suggests a series of tubes could be sent through the cave network and inflated, creating a tunnel for the team to travel through without needing to scuba dive. He later scraps that idea, and starts testing a "kid-size submarine" in Los Angeles to put the boys in and bring them out of the cave.

On Tuesday, Musk posts photos on his Twitter account from inside the cave. "Mini-sub is ready if needed," he wrote. "It is made of rocket parts & named Wild Boar after kids' soccer team."

Narongsak Osatanakorn, the Thai official leading rescue operations, said they didn't need Musk's sub.

"Although his technology is good and sophisticated, it's not practical for this mission," the rescue chief said.

Some of the same rescue divers who got the boys out on Sunday went back in on Monday. They would have traversed about 10 miles total on the two trips.

On the second day, four more boys make it out with the divers.

All eight boys are recovering in the hospital well and are expected to stay there for a week to get fully healthy.

Four of the boys and their coach remain stranded in the cave. The rescue team takes another break Monday night to rest and reset the oxygen tanks.

All 13 members of the soccer team are now rescued out of the cave and safe. They join their teammates in recovery at the hospital.

They were in the dark for so long that they had to wear protective sunglasses when they emerged from the cave.

The world watched as the heroes found the boys, and successfully got them all out of the cave over three days of daring rescues. Tributes pour in as everyone celebrates their safe return.

"We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science, or what," the Thai Navy SEALs wrote on their Facebook page. "All the thirteen Wild Boars are now out of the cave."

Thai authorities held a celebratory press conference where they said: "We have done what others thought was impossible."

Health officials are keeping the team in isolation for a few days, treating any cuts or scrapes they have, re-nourishing their bodies, and monitoring whether they develop lung infections from any fungi or bacteria in the cave.

Video shows them smiling and waving from their hospital beds.

After 17 days trapped inside the cave, they are safe.