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Evidently bored with terrestrial snow and ice, scientists at the British
Antarctic Survey in Cambridge are working out how best to explore the polar ice
caps on Mars. The southern pole would be particularly tricky as sledges and skis
would stick fast to the carbon dioxide-rich ice in temperatures below
−100°C. Running heating wires through the sledge runners would let the
sledge glide more easily, says BAS’s Charles Cockell (Acta Astronautica,
vol 49, p 693). Heat from a 2-kilowatt heating element would make the ice
sublime into gaseous CO₂ and water vapour in the low pressure…