Contribution
Status and Latest Results of the Ice Sonar in the Forefield Reconnaissance System for the TRIPLE Project
* Presenting author
Abstract:
The oceans beneath the ice crust of Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus may provide the conditions necessary for the emergence of life. This makes them key locations in the search for extraterrestrial organisms.Within the TRIPLE project line of the German Space Agency at DLR, technologies for rapid ice penetration and subglacial lake exploration are being developed to lay the foundation for future exploration missions to the icy moons of the solar system. The mission scenario involves a melting probe transporting a miniaturized autonomous underwater vehicle through the ice to reach and investigate the underlying water reservoir.In such a mission, it is crucial that the probe avoids obstacles on its path and detects the transition between ice and water to anchor there. This navigation is enabled by the TRIPLE-FRS forefield reconnaissance system. It consists of a combination of radar and sonar to ensure high performance and robustness in ice, benefitting from the complementarity of these techniques. To position the sonar directly at the tip of the probe, the melting head serves as the front mass for a piezoelectric tonpilz transducer for signal emission and recording.The status of the sonar system and latest results are presented.