VALKYRIE Matanuska Glacier Cryobot Data, 2015

The VALKYRIE cryobot project aimed to create an autonomous cryobot capable of drilling through vast amounts of ice using high energy laser fed to it through a fiber optic cable. This dataset is a summary of the science data collected vs. vehicle depth. Science instruments included a water sampler and a custom flow cytometer designed to measure the amount and type of life living in ice. The flow cytometer analyzed freshly melted water in front of the vehicle using UV LEDs to excite cells in the water and photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) to sense the reflected light. Water samples were analysed after the mission to measure cell count, ATP, and mineral content.