Lake Vostok

Russian scientists have penetrated the surface of Antarctica's largest subglacial lake, after over 20 years of drilling through two miles of glacial ice.

Lake Vostok may contain the unique lifeforms, which hasn't been touched by light in millions of years, has been a target of scientific exploration because of it.

The Russian effort has created scientific excitement about potentially learning some of the long-held secrets of the largest subglacial lake in Antarctica, a body of water that wasn’t discovered until the mid-1990s and is the world’s third-largest lake by volume.
While many scientists are eagerly waiting for news about the piercing, many do not see substantial scientific data coming for a long time. Contamination remains an issue, as does the nature of the lake below.
Russian researchers plan to continue exploring with robotic equipment that will collect water samples and sediments from the bottom of the lake, a project still awaiting the approval of the Antarctic Treaty organization.