George Kourounis has chased tornadoes. He even got married on a volcano. However, a trip to Turkmenistan was especially exciting. It is a country in Central Asia. While there, he was the first person to reach the "Door to Hell." It is a fiery pit in a large field. There is much natural gas there, which fuels the fire. People have said that a Russian oil drill fell into the pit in 1971. Scientists worried the pit was releasing poisonous gases. They set the pit on fire. They thought it would burn off the gas quickly. But the flames continue today. Kourounis is not sure if the drill story is true. Still, he now knows the place is real. Burning Challenges Kourounis says the pit looks like a volcano in the middle of the desert. It is about 76 meters (250 feet) wide. That is nearly as long as a football field. It is about 30 meters (100 feet) deep. The fire inside burns day and night, Kourounis said. He added that being near the heat is unbearable. There are flames everywhere. Before going into the burning pit, Kourounis got his equipment together. One tool was a harness. He strapped it on and used it to climb down. It was made out of Kevlar, a very hard material. He also had a breathing machine. It is similar to a tank for scuba diving. His rope and suit were made to fight heat and flames. The suit looks like aluminum foil. It helps reflect heat off of you. Kourounis said he felt like a baked potato wrapped in his foil suit. Entering The Door To Hell Inside the crater, everything looks orange because of the flames, Kouronis said. He thinks it feels like being on another planet. Its orange and red soil reminded him of Mars. Kourounis had a team with him. Their goal was to get bits of soil from the bottom of the crater. His team was looking for tiny life forms inside the soil. These microorganisms are known as extremophiles. They are called this because they survive in extreme conditions. Extremophiles survive in incredibly hot, cold, salty or dry environments. There was a good reason to do this risky work. Kourounis says it could help us learn about possible life on other planets. Many faraway planets have hot, desertlike environments. These are not too different from the fiery crater, he said. He wants to know if any life on Earth has found a way to survive in such extreme places. It turns out there were extremophiles in the soil. They were able to survive the high heat in the Door to Hell. This could give us clues to what life is like on other planets.