now that it worked, they are all hunky-dory. But there were a lot of potential problems that they had to pre-engineer away and they did a really good job of it.
Originally, they thought they might have to line the whole bore with pipe. But it was such solid, competent rock that they just went for it.
And the bore was a winding route. The mountain is honeycombed with tunnels and chambers, and the drilling couldn't pass through them, as it would make the capsule subject to snagging... that is why the ascent involves 12 rotations, one at each deflection change; a side view of the bore looks like a string of spaghetti hanging off the chin of John Belushi on free food night.
It was an incredible achievement on several fronts.
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