Asset Publisher

Melting Probe

Melting Probe

IntroductionMany planetary bodies of our solar system exhibit large layers of frozen material. Similar to the terrestrial polar caps large regions of planet Mars are also covered with ice. Unlike the Earth where the north and south polar cap consists of water ice, Martian ice is a mixture of frozen CO2 and water. The accretion history of these ice deposits dates back a few hundred million years. The ice composition, dust content and possibly microbial signatures hold the record over the evolution of the whole planet. On Earth the arctic regions are major research objects to obtain information of the planets past environmental conditions. Similar importance has been attributed to in-situ investigations of Martian polar caps.

Completely different types of frozen worlds are icy moons in our solar system e.g. Europa, Ganymede and Callisto around Jupiter. These moons exhibit a more or less continuous ice shell with large area of disturbances indicating liquid material penetrating the hard shell at fracture zones. Especially Europa raised substantial scientific interest since the existence of a global water ocean underneath the ice shield was postulated.

Despite the high scientific value of in-situ investigation in icy layers very little effort has been spent on the carrier module (i.e. the melting probe) itself that enables sophisticated scientific instrumentation to be brought into the ice.

In general, planetary lander missions have to survive on the availability of very low resources. This concerns the mass brought to the surface, limited power provision and a low data transmission volume to the relay station or orbiter spacecraft. These constraints must be reflected in every aspect of each development step towards the breadboard model of an instrumented melting probe for planetary exploration.

Development Program

Generic model of the melting probe prototype
Copyright: N. Koemle et al.

In the first program phase a melting probe prototype will be developed. This prototype will be tested under real environmental conditions. The probe melts into an ice cone penetrating thin layers enriched with silicatic dust or other chemical compounds. The melting behaviour and resource requirements will be recorded throughout the test campaign. All results are subsequently fed into a dynamic model. The output will allow prediction on the melting progress under different environmental conditions.

In a second phase the gained knowledge leads to the design and manufacturing of an advanced breadboard model. This model again will be subject to an extended test program.

This activity is carried out by N. Koemle and team from Institut für Weltraumforschung, Graz (Austria). The test facilities are provided by DLR Köln under the lead of J. Biele and S. Ulamec.

Last Update: 1 September 2019
29-Mar-2024 09:06 UT

ShortUrl Portlet

Shortcut URL

https://sci.esa.int/s/A2gmoPw

Images And Videos

Related Publications

Related Links

See Also

Documentation