Abstract For missions to Mars, a drilling system is an essential tool in the search for organic matter and simple microbial life. The subsurface layer, which has been protected from radiation, weathering, and oxidation, provides a promising environment that must be investigated comprehensively for biological activity. A drill allows direct access to the subsurface layer for taking measurements and sampling for organic chemistry studies. However, extraterrestrial drilling operations pose numerous challenges: semi-autonomous nature of the drilling process, extreme conditions, and the lack of knowledge of the target’s characteristics. Rigorous testing, evaluation, and procedural development are required to ensure the success of an extraterrestrial drilling mission. In this paper, we review the procedures and results from the preliminary tests of a Mars drill for the Northern Light mission. The prototype model, developed by Dr. T.C. Ngnow with the help of Hong Kong’s Polytechnics University, has a design goal of 2W and 300g. It was delivered to York University in April, 2009, for preliminary functional tests. This paper presents the results from those tests with detailed description of the test procedure.


    Zugriff

    Zugriff prüfen

    Verfügbarkeit in meiner Bibliothek prüfen

    Bestellung bei Subito €


    Exportieren, teilen und zitieren



    Titel :

    Northern light drill for Mars: Performance evaluation


    Beteiligte:
    Navarathinam, Nimal (Autor:in) / Lee, Regina (Autor:in) / Borschiov, Konstantin (Autor:in) / Quine, Ben (Autor:in)

    Erschienen in:

    Acta Astronautica ; 68 , 7-8 ; 1234-1241


    Erscheinungsdatum :

    2010-10-21


    Format / Umfang :

    8 pages




    Medientyp :

    Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)


    Format :

    Elektronische Ressource


    Sprache :

    Englisch




    Northern light drill for Mars: Performance evaluation

    Navarathinam, Nimal | Online Contents | 2011


    Mars Science Laboratory Drill

    Okon, Avi | NTRS | 2012


    Red Dragon Drill Missions to Mars

    Jennifer L Heldmann / Carol R Stoker / Andrew Gonzales et al. | NTRS | 2017


    Red Dragon drill missions to Mars

    Heldmann, Jennifer L. / Stoker, Carol R. / Gonzales, Andrew et al. | Elsevier | 2017