No, NASA Isn’t Drilling into Yellowstone to Stop an Eruption

You will likely laugh at this, but many believe that NASA is really planning to drill into the Yellowstone super-volcano to stop an extinction-level event eruption. That's not gonna happen. Yet.

I don't blame the conspiracy theorists for being concerned about this. The BBC shared a story back in 2017 about NASA having a multi-billion dollar plan to drill into Yellowstone.

There's more fact to this theory than you think. In October of last year, the Wall Street Journal offered an opinion piece entitled "Drilling Into Yellowstone Could Save America". This is not a new idea. A few years ago, Bright Side shared a fun video about what would happen if you really did drill into a volcano. Bonus points to them for making this into a cartoon.

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This drilling into the Yellowstone super-volcano idea has garnered enough chatter online that the USGS had to officially explain "Why we can't drill Yellowstone to stop eruptions and make power". It's a complicated issue, but their first paragraph sums up what they're trying to explain:

Drilling is often suggested as a means of preventing Yellowstone from erupting. It seems like a reasonable idea, but the volcano doesn’t work that way. And while it might be possible to generate power by geothermal drilling, that would risk disturbing the thermal features of Yellowstone—one-of-a-kind geologic and cultural treasures, with no way back when features start to change or disappear.

The good news is you can rest easy knowing that Tim the Tool Man Taylor isn't heading to Yellowstone to save us all - yet. But, I do think that would make a compelling made-for-TV movie if SyFy comes across this article.