In the 70s of the last century, there were two superpowers in the world that were constantly competing with each other, and these two powers made great achievements in science and technology.
Among them, the Soviet Union, which was once regarded as our big brother, also put forward a shocking plan, that is, to dig through the earth plan, which may be unfamiliar to everyone when they hear this name, but when they hear the "Earth Telescope Project", they should be more familiar.
However, this plan did not succeed in the end, and when the excavation reached 12,262 meters, the plan was stopped, because it attracted too much attention when the construction began.
So much so that at the time of the stoppage, many people speculated whether something mysterious had been dug up, and all kinds of speculations appeared among the masses, causing a long discussion.
Now, it has been 53 years since the excavation began, so what was the reason for the fact that the excavation only reached 12,262 meters and stopped?Also, what was the reason for the implementation of this plan back then?
In fact, before the Soviet Union put forward this plan, it was stimulated by the United States, and some friends may be curious about where such a statement came from.
Friends who know history know that since the end of World War II, there have been more and more frictions between the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, and there has also been a very influential Cold War.
During this period, the two sides seemed to have to fight for a high ground, and they both launched very strong competition in various fields, and neither was willing to give up the world's No. 1 position to others.
However, because the United States has developed better in the manufacturing industry and occupies a strong advantage in various high-tech fields, the Soviet Union naturally refuses to fall behind, so it is constantly catching up with the footsteps of the United States and high-tech.
In the 70s of the last century, after the United States successfully rescued the Apollo 13 astronauts, the Soviet Union suffered a great blow, after all, it has not achieved any particularly significant achievements and breakthroughs in this field.
So much so that the local R&D personnel in the Soviet Union had the crazy idea of "if you don't become a Buddha, you will become a demon", since we are not as good as you in space, then we will study the things inside the earth.
According to the psychological activities at that time, the Soviet Union felt that there were "secrets" in the interior of the earth that we did not know, so they had to explore, find the unknown truth, and explore the "secrets" that the interior of the earth really contained.
Once you become the first country to discover the "secret", you will not be left behind, and if you can be lucky in the process of exploration, you may be able to discover some new resources and energy.
Of course, for them, the most important thing is to show their strength to other countries around the world through this plan, which is bound to improve their status in the international community at that time, so as to deter the United States.
Thus began the "Earth Telescope Project", which is to dig the earth from one side to the other, so that a hole will appear in the earth's body.
The program began on May 24, 1970, when the Soviet Union selected a basin on the Kra Peninsula as a site for drilling.
This is because in this place, the thick bottom of the earth's crust is not as high as the surrounding area, and it is relatively thinner, which theoretically contributes to the completion of the plan.
At that time, Su Liang spent a lot of manpower and material resources to form a group of 100 people, and the equipment used was the most advanced equipment in their hands at that time.
In the beginning, the project was carried out very quickly, drilling down hundreds of meters each year, but things changed as the project progressed.
Because of the more reported events, many people were puzzled by the actions of the Soviet Union, and many countries wanted to participate in this plan, but they were rejected by the Soviet Union because they wanted to monopolize the honor.
In the process of drilling, the Soviet Union did find a lot of valuable things, such as minerals, animal fossils and the like, as well as changes in the temperature and pressure of the earth at different depths.
These things provided very valuable information for the research topics at that time, so this exploration is still of great significance.
Before the 7,000-meter descent, everything went very smoothly, but from the 7,000-meter onwards, the difficulty of the descent skyrocketed, you must know that the original goal of the Soviet Union at that time was 15,000 meters, but in 1989 when the excavation reached 12,262 meters, the "Earth Telescope Project" was terminated.
So, for what reason was this project terminated?Didn't the USSR want this honor?
First of all, there are environmental factors, from the knowledge we are learning now, the closer to the ground, the higher the temperature will be, in that era, the level of science and technology is not as developed as it is now.
As a result, the machinery manufactured according to the technology of the time could not withstand the deeper and deeper excavation work, and as the excavation work progressed, it was easy to produce crustal movements.
After the movement of the earth's crust, the danger of the project became higher and higher, and not only that, but the proportion of industry in the Soviet Union at that time was already unbalanced, so this project was a face project for the Soviet Union.
Secondly, the economic situation in the Soviet Union has changed, and the economic decline is very serious, especially after the investment in this project, the funding has been greatly challenged, so that the construction was directly stopped in the later period.
After all, at the beginning of construction, the Soviet Union was the only country in the world that could compete with the United States, so when the construction began, the Soviet Union promised the best treatment and wages to the staff.
And they did, and the people involved in the project were given a house in Moscow, and one month's salary was higher than a year's salary of a university professor.
As we said earlier, there are hundreds of people involved in the project, and this is completely a money-burning project, and this project was only stopped in 1994, but in 1983, it has reached a depth of 12,000 kilometers, which is the deepest artificial drilling at that time.
From these data, we can also see that the further you dig, the more difficult it becomes, and what you need to know here is that at the end of the seventies of the last century, the Soviet Union launched a war, which is the famous Afghan war.
At that time, the Soviet Union invested a lot of resources, and the long-term war consumption made the Soviet Union have to change its development strategy, coupled with the fact that the Soviet Union's industrial structure was very centralized, most of which were under the management of the Soviet Union, and the economic vitality was very low.
If there is no money, the face project will naturally have to be stopped, otherwise the impact will be greater, and there is also an important factor in the shutdown, that is, the lack of technical level.
The closer to the center of the earth, the higher the temperature and the greater the pressure, which has reached an extreme level for humans, which poses a great challenge to the tolerance of equipment and instruments.
Tools that are normally used on the ground are obviously unbearable, and in such an environment, equipment and instruments are very easily damaged.
In addition, the further down the digging, the stability of the wellbore is also a challenge that cannot be ignored, after all, when the rock is "stimulated", it may break or collapse, and the wellbore will be unstable, bringing hidden dangers to the safety of workers.
In the process of research and development, materials with high temperature and pressure resistance are very challenging technical tasks, and the closer they are to the center of the earth, the higher the technical requirements.
You know, between 1983 and 1993, less than 300 meters were dug, and every meter dug down, dozens of drill bits had to be worn.
In addition, it is difficult to collect data, and it becomes very difficult to obtain valid and reliable data, and data errors often occur, which is one of the reasons why it was prevented from further mining at that time.
After reading why this plan was stopped, some friends may be curious, since this plan has failed, what kind of impact does it have on us now?
In fact, when the Soviet Union proposed to dig through the earth, it was not only a milestone in the development of science and technology, but also represented the spirit of exploration and longing of the masses for the unknown at that time.
You must know that in the time of development, imagination occupies a very important position in it, and the ability to imagine boldly has helped and promoted the masses to think about the relationship between nature and technology.
In addition, when science and technology develop to a certain extent, what kind of impact will it have on the level and quality of human life, of course, although the plan to dig through the earth was not successful, but at that time it did inspire people with lofty ideals to explore the spirit of science and technology.
It can be said that this project has played a very positive role in the development of human beings, greatly promoting the development of technology and nature.
After all, the value of exploration itself is higher than the value of achieving the goal, and the most important thing is not the result but the learning in the process of thinking, and perhaps the Soviet project is also a reminder to all of us to maintain a boundary with nature and be in awe.
In the future, we need to continue to explore, but there is also a premise to find a balance between scientific and technological progress and the harmony of nature.
Until this balance is found, it is the shared responsibility of everyone to be a technician or a researcher, or a manager or a protector.
Either way, the program is great, and although it doesn't accomplish its goals, it does contribute to our development and awareness.