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.