on npr all things considered today there was a radio report with details of a USGS project (Geological Service) telling about a GPS and siesmic weather station that got blown away by a steam venting incident, and a team of sepcialists landed a helicopter, ever so briefly on the rim of the volcano to replace it with a new weather station....how would you like to be on that team??
radio story here...audio link
i think that 5-10 years ago a couple of vulcanologists perished
while studying a volcano..it seems as if it might have been in
the southern hemisphere...i donot remember their names but they
routinely wore asbestos suits in order to go into areas that were
much too hot to stand without protection and places with deadly vapors
also. any one remember this couple's names? they might have been French.