James Franklin Crow (1916–2012)

years, like Lake Vostok, underneath the eponymous Russian research station at 77 degrees South. One of the largest lakes on our planet, Lake Vostok is comparable in volume to Lake Ontario. Back in 1998, a research team drilled around three kilometres deep into the ice shield stopping only a few hundred metres above the lake surface. The lower parts of the ice core, believed to consist of frozen lake water, already contained hints of microbial life. As this discovery suggested that there may well be a thriving biotope inside the isolated lake, there were concerns over the possible contamination and damage to the biotope if one just drilled into it. Scientists therefore developed cleaner methods for the drilling of the last metres above the lake, and a two-step approach that would allow the borehole to reseal immediately without risk of contamination. After several failed attempts, the team reached the surface of the lake on February 5th this year, shortly before the date when they had to return on the last flight of the Antarctic summer season. In this first step of the proceedings, they allowed some water from the lake to rise up some tens of metres into the borehole and refreeze. The plan is to come back at the end of this year and retrieve this freshly frozen lakewater for laboratory analyses. Researchers from the UK and the US also have plans to sample smaller subglacial lakes close to their research stations. The British Antarctic Survey plans to investigate Lake Ellsworth, while US researchers are targeting Lake Whillans close to the Ross Ice Shelf. Depending on what emerges from these hidden lakes, there may be strong arguments to send some kind of robotic drilling mission to Europa. The study of life on Earth and the search for it in the rest of the Universe have become more closely linked than ever. Which, in essence, is the central idea of astrobiology.