Dr. Grokhovsky said the search was hampered by officials of Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry, which sealed off the area around an 8-meter-wide hole in the ice of Lake Chebarkul, near Chelyabinsk, where a chunk of the meteor was believed to have fallen.

WSJ: Russia Meteor Was Largest in More Than a Century

In the next decade, Genzel hopes the planned next generation of 30 meter-class telescopes will enable black hole astronomers to test general relativity around the event horizon itself.

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It is currently making its first pass down with a 12.5-inch diameter hole to the roof of the 50-square-meter (500-square-foot) refuge at Level 100 (100 meters above sea level).

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS