Coincidently, the closure of the Kola Superdeep Borehole coincides with the fall of the Soviet Union. By 1995, the ambitious project was shut down permanently.
Although tourists can still see the remnants of the experiment in the nearby town of Zapolyarny, the site has been declared an environmental hazard. Impressively, the borehole remains the deepest man-made hole. Other researchers have yet to beat its record. But, the race to the center of the Earth isn’t over yet… Photo Credit: Credits