Primary Convener:
Christine McCarthy, Columbia University of New York

Convener:
Wes Patterson, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Samuel Howell, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Benjamin Fernando, Johns Hopkins University

Chair:
Christine McCarthy, Columbia University of New York
Wes Patterson, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Samuel Howell, University of Hawaii at Manoa

Ocean worlds and subsurface icy/permafrost regions on planetary bodies captivate because of their astrobiological potential. Confirmation of life and habitability requires a landed mission that would allow ice and sub-ice shell penetration. Decades of research by labs and industry have catapulted a “cryobot” mission out of the realm of science fiction and into a viable mission capability. As the community makes leaps and bounds in technological innovation on multiple fronts, it is important to share results along the way and learn from one another’s successes and challenges. In this session we seek to bring together those in the community working on technologies and innovations for icy environment and ocean world subsurface exploration. We seek input from industry, government labs, and academia and hope to cover all aspects of landed/probe missions including modeling, laboratory experiments, field tests, and mission studies.

Index Terms
0702 Permafrost
5422 Ices
5462 Polar regions
5494 Instruments and techniques

Cross-Listed:
C - Cryosphere

Neighborhoods:
4. Beyond Earth