The project RANGE (Robust Autonomous Acoustic Navigation in Glacier Ice) will be head for the second field test on the Langenferner Glacier in the Italian Alps in August. RANGE is part of the Enceladus Explorer initiative of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and aims on investigating the ocean of molten water beneath the ice shell of Saturn's moon Enceladus for microbiological life. For the navigation of the melting probe IceMole developed by the FH Aachen, a self-spanning network of further melting probes (Autonomous Pinger Unis, short APUs) has been developed in a cooperation of the Cybernetics Lab and the III. Physikalischen Institut of RWTH Aachen University. In the upcoming field test, the autonomy of the APUs will be tested. To do this, several experiments are taken in which the APUs first autonomously specifiy their entry position and depth while entering the ice and then determine their own positions as well as the position of the IceMole with the help of acoustic signals.

Scientists from RWTH Aachen University, FH Aachen, Universität Bremen and TU Braunschweig, as well as employees of the Gesellschaft für Systementwicklung und Instrumentierung mbH (GSI) from Aachen are participating in the field test.

Further information at enex.rwth-aachen.de and by contacting Sebastian Schönitz M.Sc.