Thermal picks for anchoring on icy moons

摘要

Europa, Enceladus, and other icy moons are exciting science targets, but our capabilities to adequately explore these planetary bodies needs to be developed. Gripping the surface ice may aid the stability and mobility of surface landers and mobile explorers that are sent to the surface of an icy moon. This paper presents an approach to anchoring into the surface of an icy moon using a heated pick.