ROBOT: Cryobot Goes Where No Man Has

From: J. R. Molloy (
Date: Mon Jan 14 2002 - 10:53:29 MST

Ice-melting robot passes Arctic test
A NASA robot designed to melt its way through thousands of metres of ice to
collect data and images from subsurface oceans has undergone its first
successful test in the Arctic.
The robot - named Cryobot - could eventually be used to explore the polar ice
caps of Mars and delve down beneath the icy crust of Jupiter's moon, Europa.
In the shorter term, it could be sent on missions under unexplored expanses of
ice on Earth.
During its first test, Cryobot descended 23 metres into a glacier on
Spitsbergen Island, one of the Svalbard Islands in the Arctic circle.
The most common method of deep ice exploration involves rotary or hot water
drilling, and the retrieval of a core sample to the surface. Cryobot uses hot
water and gravity to sink down into ice, allowing the ice to reform above.
The probe, which measures one metre by 12 centimetres, is connected to
equipment on the surface that supplies electrical power and collects data. In
its completed form, it will carry a camera and chemical sensing equipment.


Useless hypotheses, etc.:
non-sensory experience, SETI

We move into a better future in proportion as the scientific method
accurately identifies incorrect thinking.
