DocumentCode
2906032
Title
Automated Mars drilling for “Icebreaker”
Author
Glass, B.J. ; McKay, C. ; Thompson, S. ; Zacny, Kris
Author_Institution
NASA Ames Res. Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA
fYear
2011
fDate
5-12 March 2011
Firstpage
1
Lastpage
7
Abstract
In order to look for organics and signs of past or extant life on Mars, it will be necessary to delve below and through the ice layers that stymied the Phoenix scoop. Automated drilling from a Phoenix-derived lander can retrieve specimens down to 1m depth, which can be transferred to on-deck instruments. This paper discusses the requirements, design concepts and some tradeoffs regarding the drill and drilling operations for the proposed NASA “Icebreaker” mission.
Keywords
Mars; extraterrestrial life; planetary interiors; planetary rovers; planetary surfaces; NASA Icebreaker mission; Phoenix scoop; Phoenix-derived lander; automated drilling; drilling operations; extant life; ice layers; on-deck instruments; Heating; Ice; Instruments; Mars; Software; Temperature measurement; Temperature sensors;
fLanguage
English
Publisher
ieee
Conference_Titel
Aerospace Conference, 2011 IEEE
Conference_Location
Big Sky, MT
ISSN
1095-323X
Print_ISBN
978-1-4244-7350-2
Type
conf
DOI
10.1109/AERO.2011.5747262
Filename
5747262
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