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NASA Has a $3.46 Billion Plan to Cool Yellowstone and Harvest it for Energy
NASA has devised a plan to ensure the volcano underneath Yellowstone remains dormant in order to prevent a possible natural disaster.
Science & Tech
Located below Yellowstone National Park's picturesque hot springs and geysers lies a gargantuan magma chamber that could one day erupt as a supervolcano. According to NASA, the supervolcano is one of the greatest natural threats to human civilization, and it is substantially more dangerous than the threat of asteroids.
That's why NASA has devised an ambitious plan for ensuring the volcano remains dormant, a 2017 BBC report explained. As a bonus, NASA's method would also provide the surrounding region with electricity, though the project would cost a staggering $3.46 billion.
Drilling holes into the side of a volcano
Both a civilization-ending asteroid impact and the eruption of the chamber, called the Yellowstone Caldera, are very unlikely to occur during our lifetimes. The odds of a 5-10 kilometer wide asteroid — like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs — hitting Earth is almost negligible at 0.000001%, while Yellowstone isn't predicted to erupt any time in the next 10,000 years.