The Antarctic Ice Borehole Probe

The Antarctic Ice Borehole Probe mission is a glaciological investigation, scheduled for November 2000-January 2001, that will acquire visible-light images and video in a hot-water drilled hole in the West Antarctic ice sheet. The objectives of the probe are to observe ice-bed interactions with a downward looking camera, and ice inclusions and structure, including hypothesized ice accretion, with a side-looking camera. The Probe mission also serves as a stepping-stone in the development of technology to acquire data in extreme ice and liquid environments. The information and experience will aid projects involving exploration in ice/liquid environments, including missions to Lake Vostok in Antarctica, Mars Polar Caps and Europa, Jupiter´s moon. This focus of this paper is to describe the design and use of the probe