mystery surrounds how the darvaza gas crater in the karakum desert formed and began to burn.nmental and health reasons, but also as part of efforts to increase gas exports. i've been speaking to canadian explorer george kourounis, the first person ever to descend to the bottom of the crater. he told me how he managed to do it. it was very challenging. i was the expedition leader on a project that was assigned to go here and gather soil samples from the bottle of this burning pit of methane gas in order to study it and see if there are extremophile bacteria living at the bottom of this crater that could give us clues as to where we might want to look for a life outside of our solar system. and this is a very unique place on earth, there is no other spot just like it. well, it was very difficult to get there — two years or so of planning and preparation. i had a special heat—resistant suit and self—contained air. i was able to drop down in the centre and spend 17 minutes at the bottom in what felt like another planet — it really was otherworldly, and we did find several types o