The American Apollo and Soviet Luna missions to the Moon during the ‘space race’ led to a vast collection of knowledge regarding the properties of the lunar surface. A critical but often under-appreciated investigative tool used in the missions is the penetrometer, a simple device which was successfully operated both manually and semi-autonomously to penetrate and characterize the unknown lunar regolith. Since that time, penetrometers have seen little use in investigations of returned lunar soil (also called regolith) or—more often—regolith simulants, though a few intrepid researchers have continued using the penetrometer in various forms. Recent work provides evidence that both the penetration and relaxation behavior of the regolith can help to determine useful physical properties, including important indications of ice content, cohesion, and particle angularity. Current plans to return to the Moon's polar regions to explore icy regolith are being developed along with in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) demonstration missions, and some will likely include instruments for determining in-situ regolith properties using penetrometer technology.
Penetration Investigations in Lunar Regolith and Simulants
Handbook of Space Resources ; Kapitel : 15 ; 521-579
28.04.2023
59 pages
Aufsatz/Kapitel (Buch)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
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