Originally posted by Qemyst
I know they were worried at one point about the drill bit contaminating the waters when it broke through the ice... Just makes me wonder how they're
going to do their exploring without contamination.
Last I read, they had plans to use conventional drilling until they were close to the surface of the lake--say within ten meters or something--then
stop drilling, retract all of the drilling equipment out of the shaft, and lower a specially-constructed probe all the way to the bottom. The probe
looks kinda like the stub of a pencil, and they lower it "headfirst" or with the tip pointing down because it is designed so that the entire
"nosecone" tip stays warm. The warmth of the tip of the probe will allow it to sink, very slowly and gently, through the remaining few meters of
ice, without making a tunnel that would expose the lake to modern surface conditions, because the ice melted by the tip of the probe will reform
behind it.
Finally, the probe will stop within a few feet of the lake boundary, anchor itself into the ice, and open a cargo area that contains the probe that
will actually enter the waters of the lake. This smaller probe was built in one of the best "clean room" environments available, and sealed
hermetically in its cargo box before leaving the room. It's never been touched by human hands and has been made as sterile as human tech can make
it.
After it is released from the cargo box of the larger probe, the smaller "clean" probe will slip through the ice in the same way the first probe
did, and eventually, after moving far enough away from the first probe for the ice to seal it off, the second probe will enter the lake.
$10 says it breaks right after that. Murphy was an optimist.
