NASA plans to shoot a projectile into Europa (one of the ice moons around Jupiter). The projectile will then send information about the ice to a satellite.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.icesculptingtools.com/Nasa%20Ice%2015.JPG?resize=526%2C397)
NASA designed this assembly to super chill ice.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.icesculptingtools.com/Nasa%20Ice%202.jpg?resize=507%2C401)
They place one of our 12″ clear cylinders in the assembly. Then the assembly is put in a vacuum chamber.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.icesculptingtools.com/Nasa%20Ice%203.jpg?resize=495%2C284)
They pump liquid nitrogen through the copper lines chilling the ice cylinder to -350F !!
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.icesculptingtools.com/Nasa%20Ice%204.jpg?resize=220%2C284)
They are testing different shape and weight projectiles.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.icesculptingtools.com/Nasa%20Ice%206.jpg?resize=324%2C495)
The projectile is nestled into a sabot
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.icesculptingtools.com/Nasa%20Ice%205.jpg?resize=185%2C495)
The Sabot is placed into this air cannon which shoots it at over 700′ per second.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.icesculptingtools.com/Nasa%20Ice%2011.jpg?resize=514%2C457)
The sabot strikes the end of the cannon & the projectile continues.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.icesculptingtools.com/Nasa%20Ice%207.jpg?resize=536%2C458)
A high speed camera records all of this
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.icesculptingtools.com/Nasa%20Ice%209%20carving.jpg?resize=485%2C389)
The -350f assembly is removed from the vacuum chamber
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.icesculptingtools.com/Nasa%20Ice%2010.jpg?resize=445%2C390)
The crater formed by the projectile. At -350f ice becomes VERY hard.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.icesculptingtools.com/Nasa%20Ice%2012.jpg?resize=286%2C249)
Using a 3-D scanner, they scan it with 5 lasers from 6 angles.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.icesculptingtools.com/Nasa%20Ice%2013.jpg?resize=547%2C248)
Two of the individual scans
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.icesculptingtools.com/Nasa%20Ice%2014.jpg?resize=478%2C371)
The computer merges all 30 laser scans into one 3-D model.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.icesculptingtools.com/Nasa%20Ice%2016.jpg?resize=289%2C383)
We supplied them with 12″ cylinders of clear ice frozen in Steel casings
We helped NASA with a previous experiment as well. They shot Ice Bullets at various elements of the space shuttle in an effort to return to flight after the trajedy.