Another location - same problems

Since a change of the weather is not in sight, we were offered a new place in the "Glacier Palace". The Glacier Palace is an underground ice cave in the Klein-Matterhorn; approx. 10 meters below the surface. Our new test zone is located directly in front of the habitat and offers a large ice surface.

Our spikes - even the repaired one - worked perfectly. The previous tests on the glacier were on a partly melted surface. But even on a fully frozen surface all four spikes could melt down and freeze without any problems. A tensile test with two persons showed perfect anchoring. This concludes the testing around the spikes. We are very proud that they worked perfectly.

Unfortunately, drilling continues to cause us difficulties. The first ten centimeters caused us no problems, whether on the glacier surface or in the glacier palace. After that, we cannot move forward. We have many causes in mind, but so far we have not been able to confirm or rule out any. This will be one of our main tasks tomorrow. But even the small ice cores present themselves in full beauty and do not let us doubt our project.

Tomorrow will be the last day for testing. We also expect visitors from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Swiss Space Office (SSO).