Lake Vostok, Antarctica's Largest Subglacial Body Of Water

This is as exciting as it is frustrating.  Yes, it's one of those stories that I love to read and (with any luck) get to followup on as more information becomes available.  (Click the image to embiggen.) The frustrating part is the arrogance by the team to use hazardous gases in the process, which may contaminate and ruin the entire project. But, what do I know?

After over 20 years of drilling through two miles of glacial ice, Russian scientists have reportedly penetrated the surface of Antarctica's largest subglacial lake.
Lake Vostok, which hasn't been touched by light in millions of years, has been a target of scientific exploration because of the unique lifeforms it may contain.
According to Wired, the lake likely contains 50 times the amount of oxygen found in a typical freshwater lake. The conditions in the lake "are thought to be similar" to Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's Enceladus.
The Washington Post reports that a state-run Russian news agency made the announcement Monday, saying the scientists "stopped drilling at the depth of 3,768 meters [12,362 feet] and reached the surface of the subglacial lake."
Even though the scientists have drilled into the lake, it will be another year before the lake's water can be sampled. The scientists are only able to retrieve ice samples from their borehole and they must wait for the upcoming Antarctic winter to pass, according to OurAmazingPlanet.
Despite the excitement surrounding the Russians' accomplishment, the project is not without environmental fears. The Washington Post explained that concerns exist that Lake Vostok "could be contaminated by the kerosene, Freon and other materials being used in the drilling."
Discover reported that with "quite a bit of gas" in the lake, there were also fears that a "catastrophic" geyser could erupt when Lake Vostok was penetrated.
John Priscu, an Antarctic specialist at Montana State University, told The Washington Post, "If they were successful, their efforts will transform the way we do science in Antarctica and provide us with an entirely new view of what exists under the vast Antarctic ice sheet."

I am no scientist, or explorer, but I could play one on TV! In fact, I could play with Dr. Robert Ballard for a very long time.  (Ahem!)

Learn more by clicking through the links in the story.

And so it goes.
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