In the last communication which was particularly difficult, the scientists had said that "They had discovered something very serious"…
The scientists were experiencing temperatures of -66 degrees Celsius as they tried to drill into the lake, the surface of which is some 3,5 km below the thick layer of ice. The goal was to take water samples from the 20-million-year-old lake so that they could draw useful conclusions about creating life on our planet.
The drilling had to be completed shortly before the deadly winter and scientists were trapped there. The mission was also monitored by the United States, which had stated that the Russian team was "better prepared" for its execution by a similar American group that was preparing for the same purpose.
"For the past six days, however, they have not shown signs of life," explains Dr. John Priscu Professor of Ecology at the University of Montana.
The American professor told Fox News that the last time he had contacted them by e-mail last week, his Russian team had announced that they were about 13,5 meters from where they estimated the surface of the lake was. which has not come into contact with the atmospheric air for 20 million years! The last communication took place in which the Russian scientists said that "We discovered something very serious" and since then their traces have disappeared.
Since then, as stated by Dr. Priscu has not received any news from the team nor has anyone else.
"Temperatures are always below -50 degrees, and they only have a week or two before everything freezes," he said. John Priscu.
"It's like working on an alien planet that no one has been to before and you do not know who and what you will find," Valery Lukin, head of the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in Aria, explained on January 27. Petersburg who oversees the drilling program "We honestly do not know what awaits us down there. The team works non-stop 24 hours a day in shifts to prevent the onset of winter "he added.
The issue is even more complicated as the scientists of the Russian station Vostok located in the area must have left the station by February 6.
"It's too early to think about the worst. The team is as committed to its work as it can still be, "Columbia University researcher Robin E. Bell told the Daily Mail.
"I would not worry so much. When you do something so serious, the last thing you care about is wasting your time talking to other people, "he said. drilling around the world. "Who knows what they found and if this is related to their disappearance."
Lake Vostok is considered one of the most inhospitable places on earth. On July 21, 1983, the lowest temperature in history was recorded -89,4 degrees C.
Until recently, the Russians communicated with two other missions to Antarctica, a British and an American, via Iridium satellite phones, but as the British microbiologist Dr. explains. David A. Pearce at Fox News, head of the British scientific mission to Antarctica, but there are some places where coverage is not possible, and they do not include the drilling point.
"They must have left by February 6," he said. At some point we do not know what happened. They may have encountered technical difficulties. They may even have picked up their findings and headed back. "But the lack of communication in the last six days after their discovery has caused us great concern. It has raised questions in the scientific community here in Antarctica."
Source: Newsbeast.gr