There's a group called the Think Tank that I applied to be accepted to, which required writing a 500-word essay. I figure that might make for a good blot post in addition to the application to get in the group.
The Russians’ batshit insane attempt to drill to the center of the Earth
Or:
How I learned to say Kola Superdeep Borehole without giggling (mostly)
As has been successfully beaten into our brains for most of our lives, there was a Space Race between the U.S. and Russia, one that ended the day the U.S. successfully landed a man on the Moon. However, there was another race that started after the Space Race ended, one that was far more insane and weird. Yes, there was a race to get to the center of the Earth, and the Russians won by drilling deeper than any ocean to do so.
The Space Race made some sort of intuitive sense. There was a clear, achievable goal: get to the Moon. However, it’s not entirely clear, in my small bit of research, what the Russians hoped to accomplish with this project. Their goal was clear: breach the ‘mantle’ of the Earth. What they would do afterward, or why this seemed like a noteworthy project, however, remains somewhat of a mystery.
As you may remember from geology class, there are different parts to the structure of the Earth. What we know of the Earth is called the lithosphere and is nearly 37 miles deep. The next part of the structure of the Earth is the mantle, followed by the outer core and then inner core. For perspective, the deepest part of the ocean, known as Mariana Trench (recently in the news because of James Cameron’s voyage to the bottom), is only seven miles below sea level. To reach the mantle of the Earth, the Russians would have had to drill an additional 30 miles on top of that.
Unsurprisingly, the Russians failed. They were able to only drill 7.6 miles deep, which is still deeper than the deepest part of the ocean. Their station, known as the Kola Superdeep Borehole, is located in the...
There's a group called the Think Tank that I applied to be accepted to, which required writing a 500-word essay. I figure that might make for a good blot post in addition to the application to get in the group.
The Russians’ batshit insane attempt to drill to the center of the Earth
Or:
How I learned to say Kola Superdeep Borehole without giggling (mostly)
As has been successfully beaten into our brains for most of our lives, there was a Space Race between the U.S. and Russia, one that ended the day the U.S. successfully landed a man on the Moon. However, there was another race that started after the Space Race ended, one that was far more insane and weird. Yes, there was a race to get to the center of the Earth, and the Russians won by drilling deeper than any ocean to do so.
The Space Race made some sort of intuitive sense. There was a clear, achievable goal: get to the Moon. However, it’s not entirely clear, in my small bit of research, what the Russians hoped to accomplish with this project. Their goal was clear: breach the ‘mantle’ of the Earth. What they would do afterward, or why this seemed like a noteworthy project, however, remains somewhat of a mystery.
As you may remember from geology class, there are different parts to the structure of the Earth. What we know of the Earth is called the lithosphere and is nearly 37 miles deep. The next part of the structure of the Earth is the mantle, followed by the outer core and then inner core. For perspective, the deepest part of the ocean, known as Mariana Trench (recently in the news because of James Cameron’s voyage to the bottom), is only seven miles below sea level. To reach the mantle of the Earth, the Russians would have had to drill an additional 30 miles on top of that.
Unsurprisingly, the Russians failed. They were able to only drill 7.6 miles deep, which is still deeper than the deepest part of the ocean. Their station, known as the Kola Superdeep Borehole, is located in the Northern region of Kola, which is a peninsula near Finland. Maybe even more surprising is that the U.S. also had a drilling project, called Project Mohole, however they drilled into the ocean floor off the Gulf of Mexico and only reached 601 feet below the seafloor.
One of the stranger parts of the Russians’ attempt is the bizarre rumors that sprung up decades afterward. In the late-80’s, the Trinity Broadcast Network aired a claim that the Russians had drilled into Hell with their project. A Norwegian teacher, hearing this broadcast while in the U.S. and annoyed at the gullibility of the news station, offered proof in the form of audio tapes that, he claimed, were the sounds of tortured souls screaming that were recorded by the Russians. The broadcast was aired on the Trinity Broadcast Network without verifying the claims. To this day, internet rumors get passed around about how the Russians drilled into Hell.
Unfortunately, the Russians were unable to hold on to their title of deepest hole. In 2011, another hole was drilled that was 300 feet deeper than the Kola Superdeep Borehole. However, the borehole still retains the record for deepest hole below the surface.
The Russians’ batshit insane attempt to drill to the center of the Earth
Or:
How I learned to say Kola Superdeep Borehole without giggling (mostly)
As has been successfully beaten into our brains for most of our lives, there was a Space Race between the U.S. and Russia, one that ended the day the U.S. successfully landed a man on the Moon. However, there was another race that started after the Space Race ended, one that was far more insane and weird. Yes, there was a race to get to the center of the Earth, and the Russians won by drilling deeper than any ocean to do so.
The Space Race made some sort of intuitive sense. There was a clear, achievable goal: get to the Moon. However, it’s not entirely clear, in my small bit of research, what the Russians hoped to accomplish with this project. Their goal was clear: breach the ‘mantle’ of the Earth. What they would do afterward, or why this seemed like a noteworthy project, however, remains somewhat of a mystery.
As you may remember from geology class, there are different parts to the structure of the Earth. What we know of the Earth is called the lithosphere and is nearly 37 miles deep. The next part of the structure of the Earth is the mantle, followed by the outer core and then inner core. For perspective, the deepest part of the ocean, known as Mariana Trench (recently in the news because of James Cameron’s voyage to the bottom), is only seven miles below sea level. To reach the mantle of the Earth, the Russians would have had to drill an additional 30 miles on top of that.
Unsurprisingly, the Russians failed. They were able to only drill 7.6 miles deep, which is still deeper than the deepest part of the ocean. Their station, known as the Kola Superdeep Borehole, is located in the...