Ice-Melting Probe Using Steam and Jets of Hot Water

An improved probe has been proposed for burrowing vertically into ice for scientific exploration of polar icecaps, glaciers, and the like. The predecessor of the improved probe is a Philbert probe, which contains an electric heater to melt the ice in contact with it and thereby make it descend through the ice under its own weight. A Philbert probe also contains a mechanism from which the wires for the electric heater and any sensors in the probe are paid out behind the probe; these wires become sealed into the overlying ice as the probe descends. The two major drawbacks of a Philbert probe are that (1) it tends not to go straight down and (2) a plug of dust, sand, rock, and/or other debris tends to build up in the meltwater ahead of the probe, eventually becoming large enough to halt the descent by interrupting the heat-transfer interface between the vehicle nose and the ice. The improved probe is designed to eliminate these drawbacks.