Project Mohole
Since the late 1950s, American scientists and their Soviet counterparts have been competing for the secrets beneath our feet. They conducted in-depth experiments to penetrate as far as possible into the Earth’s crust. Experts estimate that this hard crust is about 50 kilometers thick. Eventually, the Earth’s crust merges into the mantle, the mysterious center that makes up 40% of our planet’s mass.
Project Mohole was the start of this deep race. The United States launched this project in 1958. A group of engineers drilled through the bottom of the Pacific Ocean near Guadalupe, Mexico. They managed to get to a depth of about 180 meters, but unfortunately the funding was cut off after their project ran for about eight years. With Project Mohole canceled the Americans were unable to penetrate the mysterious Earth’s mantle.
Then it was the Soviets turn…