Sample Collection from Planetary Surfaces

Details Sample Collection from Planetary Surfaces Sample Collection from Planetary Surfaces

Mar 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996lpi....27..213c&link_type=abstract

Lunar and Planetary Science, volume 27, page 213

Statistics

Applications

Discovery Program, Moon, Sample Return, Small Bodies

Scientific paper

Prototype planetary surface sample collectors that enable a small robotic spacecraft or vehicle to sample rock or regolith surfaces have been designed and bested at APL. Technical requirements for the sample collector include small size and mass, minimum power, operability in near vacuum and microgravity, and minimal alteration and contamination of the sample. Our prototype unit weighs about 2 kg and obtains 35 g samples from solid basalt rock or loose sand, using a pyrotechnic gas generator to propel a coring tube into the surface. This concept of operation is similar to that of side-wall samplers used in terrestrial drilling operations. Multiple samplers will be accommodated to obtain samples from different parts of the target body. Possible applications under active study include low cost sample return missions to small bodies, possibly in the NASA Discovery Program, and sample acquisition by a small rover on Mars or the Moon leading to in situ analysis or Earth return. We will discuss science requirements and implications for sample collection techniques. We will also summarize successful test results from our sample collector development program which is supported by the NASA Planetary Instrument Definition and Development Program.

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