SUBICE

Titleimage: SUBICE

SUBICE is a project of the University of Bern, the University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Western Switzerland (HES-SO), and Thales-Alenia Space Switzerland (TASCH).

The primary aim of SUBICE is to explore and establish experimental and numerical techniques for determining how water ice and refractory materials are physically connected within a cometary nucleus at scales of a centimetre or less. This is motivated, firstly, by a need to constrain how ices and refractory material combined in the planetesimal formation process in the early epochs of our Solar System, and secondly, by the need to understand specific measurements acquired by the Rosetta spacecraft at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko that point to a complexity beyond that incorporated in current models.

SUBICE is supported through a MARVIS (Multidisciplinary Advanced Research Ventures in Space) programme of the Swiss Department for Business, Education, and Research (SBFI).

News

Swissinfo

Why do two Swiss researchers want to find ice on comets?

Using a new type of instrument, two astrophysicists from the University of Bern hope to get a little closer to unravelling the mystery of the origins of the solar system. They believe the key to this lies in the ice that can occur in a dust layer on comets.

Christian Raaflaub, Michele Andina

Uni Aktuell

Kosmischem Eis auf der Spur

Mit 1,3 Millionen Franken fördert der Bund die Entwicklung eines neuartigen Raumfahrtinstruments unter der Leitung von Nicolas Thomas. Damit soll in Zukunft Wassereis unter der Oberfläche von Kometen, Planeten und Monden untersucht werden.

GGBA

University of Bern and HES-SO spearhead groundbreaking space exploration initiative

Fresh on the heels of the University of Bern’s integral contribution to the JUICE mission—an endeavor that recently marked its maiden voyage to Jupiter—the institution, in collaboration with HES-SO, once again leads the charge in space exploration.