Scientists found signs of life 7.5 miles below ground, inside the Kola Superdeep Borehole

[post_page_title]A dangerous precedent[/post_page_title]
The US learned that offshore oil digging was possible and while they were dealing with digging their hole they began to set up other facilities. These rigs wouldn’t be drilling for the sake of it, but for oil, something that helped continue the quest for oil, especially as most land sites were drying up.

This meant that the US was not going to run out of oil anytime soon, helping to keep advancing technology and keep up with the Soviets. Over in Russia, the dig was running into similar problems and getting deeper was requiring more and more resources. The US stopped digging, but the Soviets were determined to carry on, especially if the US joined the race later again.