Revealed: NASA's plan to protect humankind from alarming threat of 'supervolcano' eruption

NASA scientist Brian Wilcox, a former member of the NASA Advisory Council on Planetary Defense, has spoken about the space agency’s plan to prevent the Yellowstone super volcano erupting. Researchers plan to drill to the bottom of the volcano and use high pressure water to release heat from the magma chamber.

In conversation with BBC, Wilcox said, “I was a member of the NASA Advisory Council on Planetary Defense which studied ways for NASA to defend the planet from asteroids and comets. I came to the conclusion during that study that the supervolcano threat is substantially greater than the asteroid or comet threat.”

NASA plans to drill up to 10km down into the supervolcano, and pump down water at high pressure. The enormous volcano lies beneath the American National Park and is slated to cost £2.7 billion. However, NASA believes that it would be the ‘most viable solution.’

Yellowstone currently leaks about 60-70 percent of the heat coming up from below into the atmosphere, via water which seeps into the magma chamber through cracks. The remainder builds up inside the magma, enabling it to dissolve more and more volatile gases and surrounding rocks. Once this heat reaches a certain threshold, then an explosive eruption is inevitable, the report added.