Would you go up to a lake of lava to take a sample from it? Well, Youtuber ExperimentBoy just did. This is the expedition that he took part in.
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00:00We chose to go on this volcano, Lerta Ale, because it's one of the few volcanoes in the world that is in permanent activity, it's really a lake of lava all year round.
00:30The thing is, it's also one of the most inaccessible volcanoes in the world, and when I was told that, I thought, well, it's going to be a bit of a hassle to go, but I didn't realize that in fact, the more we advanced, the more we were moving away from any civilization, but the more we were still far from getting there, you really have to deserve it, this volcano, what.
00:56We can't see anything, it's a big mess, there's lightning everywhere, what's incredible is that all of this gives the impression that it's set in a movie.
01:04It really smells like unpleasant smells, and it's a very difficult place to breathe.
01:10As we were with professional drone pilots, the goal with them was to be able to fly a drone just above the magma in fusion, to let go of a grapple, and to go back to a still hot lava sample.
01:20In fact, from a scientific point of view, there has never been a sample of fire in this area, in this volcano, of still hot lava.
01:26There are scientists who have recovered old lava flows that have had time to crystallize, so the structure of the rock is slightly different, and it doesn't give the same data as if we were able to cool the lava quickly and recover it still fresh, in quotes.
01:50They have a flight time of about 4 minutes, and a homemade launch system, to let go of the grapple and take the lava sample.
02:05When we get there, the feeling is really to feel tiny and ridiculous compared to the power and the size of this natural thing, which is the crater.
02:14So you have to know that there is a first edge and a second cliff of 15 meters that has collapsed, then 300 meters and we move towards the new crater, what is called the new Erta Ale.
02:24There, the crater is 80 meters in diameter, it was at that time more than 100 meters deep before reaching the lava, and when you walk on it, it's an old lava flow that was two years old, and everything is hollow.
02:36The next day, we are at the edge of the crater, we still feel a heat that radiates a little bit from the ground, it's especially scary to walk on the edge, because everything is flat, there are cracks everywhere, we feel that it's hollow, it's pretty crazy.
02:54While we were having the discussion with Chris, at that moment the volcano wakes up, we have this light that is emitted, we probably hear gases coming out.
03:03So, precisely, in terms of attempts with the drone, we did several tests, but there was so much smoke, plus the heat, the winds that change, all that, the air that is unbreathable, the length of the day, that unfortunately we did not succeed in collecting lava.
03:34No more signs of life, no more sound, I think they lost the drone.
03:40But, like any scientific experiment, it still taught us a lot about the potential conditions that we can have, so for future expeditions, for other scientists, I think it can give them a lot of information on what to expect, what type of drone, what type of equipment to adapt to succeed in sampling, even if the conditions are not good.
03:59So it's really a feeling of power of nature that we feel, and it's something to live.
04:04It's very different when you go to this kind of country, with this kind of culture, this kind of environment, of Martian landscape, lunar, everything you want, it's very different to be there or to watch a report quietly on your couch.