IceCube acoustic module

Copyright: © Christoph Günther

The acoustic module for the IceCube project has reached an important milestone in its development. Last week, the housing was subjected to a pressure test in which it had to withstand up to 700 bar. Such high pressures can occur when the boreholes, which are about 2.5 km deep, freeze in the Antarctic ice. The aim of the acoustic module is to accurately measure the positions of IceCube's optical sensors using trilateration of acoustic signals. Senior Research Engineer Jürgen Borowka, PhD student Christoph Günther and intern Maverick Schönell ran the test.