AN INTERNATIONAL team of scientists will set sail from Southampton on an expedition that could unlock the answers to some of the universe's biggest questions.
The RRS James Cook will depart the city on Monday as part of a six-week expedition to the mid-Atlantic Ocean.
There, in a world first they will use deep sea ocean drilling on the Atlantis Massif, an underwater mountain that forms part of the world's longest range.
They hope that drilling the unstable serpentinite rock and sampling the microbes and other organisms living in it could help determine how life began on Earth - and potentially what is needed for life to develop on other planets too.
The 32-strong team of scientists, engineers and crew members will depart the National Oceanography Centre on Monday.
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