Physics
Scientific paper
Aug 2000
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000mpse.conf...97k&link_type=abstract
International Conference on Mars Polar Science and Exploration, p. 97
Physics
Flyby Missions, Space Exploration, Icy Satellites, Rosetta Mission, Solid Surfaces, Mars Missions, Moon, Comets, Accelerometers, European Space Agency, Granular Materials
Scientific paper
Penetrators as tools for exploring extraterrestrial solid surfaces have been developed for a couple of space missions to Mars, the Moon, comets, and the icy satellites of the giant planets. They are particularly useful to characterize the strength properties and the layering of planetary near surface layers. Being currently engaged with the development of an instrumented 'anchoring harpoon' for the lander of the European Space Agency's (ESA) comet mission Rosetta, we propose similar devices for application aboard future Mars lander missions. In particular we report on results of a considerable number of laboratory experiments performed both at our lab in Graz and in cooperation with the Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching/Germany. Test shots into various analog materials (porous water and carbon dioxide ices, cohesionless granular materials like sand, and cohesive materials like foamed glasses) demonstrated that it is possible to extract valuable information on the variation of material strength along the penetration path of a 'projectile' in the target, if one measures the deceleration history with an integrated shock accelerometer. 'Dynamic Penetromety' measurements of this type have the advantage that they need little additional mass and power and sometimes (like in the case of the Rosetta Lander) are actually a spin off of the requirement to fix the spacecraft at the surface. Despite of the need for a high sampling rate (50 - 100 kHz) in order to obtain a reasonable depth resolution, the total data volume of such measurements is rather modest, because a typical penetration event takes only a few milliseconds time. For Mars research (especially for the exploration of Mars polar deposits) the methods described may prove as very useful, because they are robust, easy to do, and - due to their low mass and power requirements - several mini-probes equipped with accelerometers could investigate the layering at different places within one larger mission.
Kargl Guenter
Kömle Norbert I.
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