Ice Drilling

The IceCube project at the South Pole has transformed a cubic kilometer of ice into the world’s weirdest and largest telescope.

Engineers and physicists completed constructing thanks to a special hot water drill that was designed and built in Stoughton, Wisconsin. Over a period of seven years, 86 holes were melted in the ice at the South Pole, each about 60 cm in diameter and two miles deep! Each hole produced about 200,000 gallons of water. A string of 60 electronic detector was placed in each water-filled hole, which then refroze, locking the detectors in place.

Our ice drilling activity is a lot smaller in scale, but still big fun. With the help of a 300 hundred pound block of sculpture ice, we allows kids (and adults!) the opportunity to experiment with ice drilling.

Start thinking like an engineer and see how long it takes to melt a hole in the ice block, question why the holes are melted in the ice rather than being made with a mechanical drill, and test your own ideas in this fun activity for all ages. Instructions for doing this activity at home are available here.