Scientists plot mission into volcano crater

MOUNT ST. HELENS – As Mount St. Helens continues pumping out lava, scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey are plotting a possible mission to the crater floor.

They want to explore the smooth face of part of the lava dome that pushed out of the volcano several months ago. It’s largely intact from the time it oozed out of the volcano’s vent as a whaleback-shaped hump earlier this year.

The extrusion sits along the east side of the crater, an estimated 1,300 to 1,600 feet from the active part of the dome.

Coated in a chalky shell of material gouged from the interior vent, the massive hunk could provide clues about how the eruption occurred and what the volcano may do in the future.