NathanAn Interest
We all know that the Americans and the Soviets have always been trailblazers when it comes to science and technology. So at the beginning of the late 1950s, competing teams of American and Soviet scientists started to organize an elaborate experiment that had been designed to penetrate the Earth’s crust. This has been a curious topic for them for quite a while and so they quickly worked on it…
Going Deep
This group of scientists was on the quest to find out what actually lies on the core of this place we all call home. This stretch goes as far as about 30 miles towards the center of our planet and the dense shell eventually gives way to the mantle. This, as we all know, is the mysterious inner layer that takes up a staggering 40 percent of this planet’s total mass.
Getting To Work
So by the time 1958 came, the U.S. took the lead by launching the Project Mohole. So where is this manhole located? Well, the researchers decided to locate it near Guadalupe in Mexico. The operation took up the help of a team of engineers that could drill beneath the bed of the Pacific Ocean. And so just how deep is this? Well, the scientists managed to dig a depth of over 600 feet.
Great Obstacles
The project was going along just fine and things appeared to go very smoothly. But as we all know, life does not flow smoothly and so the researchers faced a ton of problems too. Among the issues they had to overcome, money was the biggest one. It persisted for a while and then eight years later, the funding was cut, and Project Mohole had to be abandoned. The Americans did not get to reach the mantle.
Next In Line
Following the Americans’ unsuccessful attempt, who was next in line? Well, now it was the Soviets’ turn to try and figure out how they could better the USA’s endeavor. So, on May 24, 1970, a team of researchers started their work and began drilling down into the earth below the Pechengsky District. They were determined to right the wrongs of the previous team that had the exact goals.
As Deep As Possible
So the team started their work on the sparsely populated region on Russia’s Kola Peninsula. They were set on following through and getting over any obstacle that might come their way. Their goal was a very simple one: to penetrate as far as possible into the planet’s crust. There has been a lot of speculations and assumptions as to what lies on the core of the earth, so what would ever would they discover?