@article{DachwaldMikuckiTulaczyketal.2014,
  author    = {Dachwald, Bernd and Mikucki, Jill and Tulaczyk, Slawek and Digel, Ilya and Espe, Clemens and Feldmann, Marco and Francke, Gero and Kowalski, Julia and Xu, Changsheng},
  title     = {IceMole : A maneuverable probe for clean in situ analysis and sampling of subsurface ice and subglacial aquatic ecosystems},
  series = {Annals of Glaciology},
  volume    = {55},
  journal   = {Annals of Glaciology},
  number    = {65},
  publisher = {Cambridge University Press},
  address   = {Cambridge},
  issn      = {1727-5644},
  doi       = {10.3189/2014AoG65A004},
  pages     = {14 -- 22},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {There is significant interest in sampling subglacial environments for geobiological studies, but they are difficult to access. Existing ice-drilling technologies make it cumbersome to maintain microbiologically clean access for sample acquisition and environmental stewardship of potentially fragile subglacial aquatic ecosystems. The IceMole is a maneuverable subsurface ice probe for clean in situ analysis and sampling of glacial ice and subglacial materials. The design is based on the novel concept of combining melting and mechanical propulsion. It can change melting direction by differential heating of the melting head and optional side-wall heaters. The first two prototypes were successfully tested between 2010 and 2012 on glaciers in Switzerland and Iceland. They demonstrated downward, horizontal and upward melting, as well as curve driving and dirt layer penetration. A more advanced probe is currently under development as part of the Enceladus Explorer (EnEx) project. It offers systems for obstacle avoidance, target detection, and navigation in ice. For the EnEx-IceMole, we will pay particular attention to clean protocols for the sampling of subglacial materials for biogeochemical analysis. We plan to use this probe for clean access into a unique subglacial aquatic environment at Blood Falls, Antarctica, with return of a subglacial brine sample.},
  language  = {en}
}
@inproceedings{DachwaldMikuckiTulaczyketal.2012,
  author    = {Dachwald, Bernd and Mikucki, Jill A. and Tulaczyk, Slawek and Digel, Ilya and Feldmann, Marco and Espe, Clemens and Plescher, Engelbert and Xu, Changsheng},
  title     = {IceMole - a maneuverable probe for clean in-situ analysis and sampling of subsurface ice and subglacial aquatic ecosystems : extended abstract / SCAR Open Science Conference 2012, Session 29: Advancing Clean Technologies for Exploration of Glacial Aquatic Ecosystems},
  year      = {2012},
  abstract  = {The "IceMole" is a novel maneuverable subsurface ice probe for clean in-situ analysis and sampling of subsurface ice and subglacial water/brine. It is developed and build at FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences' Astronautical Laboratory. A first prototype was successfully tested on the Swiss Morteratsch glacier in 2010. Clean sampling is achieved with a hollow ice screw (as it is used in mountaineering) at the tip of the probe. Maneuverability is achieved with a differentially heated melting head. Funded by the German Space Agency (DLR), a consortium led by FH Aachen currently develops a much more advanced IceMole probe, which includes a sophisticated system for obstacle avoidance, target detection, and navigation in the ice. We intend to use this probe for taking clean samples of subglacial brine at the Blood Falls (McMurdo Dry Valleys, East Antarctica) for chemical and microbiological analysis. In our conference contribution, we 1) describe the IceMole design, 2) report the results of the field tests of the first prototype on the Morteratsch glacier, 3) discuss the probe's potential for the clean in-situ analysis and sampling of subsurface ice and subglacial liquids, and 4) outline the way ahead in the development of this technology.},
  subject      = {Eisschicht},
  language  = {en}
}