Space penetrators — Rosetta case study

In the paper a two decades long development of low velocity penetrators and devices derived from them in Space Research Centre is presented. The case study is penetrator developed for the Philae lander on the Rosetta that laid the fundament for further constructions. Two main Rosetta penetrator mechanisms described here are: the insertion mechanism that is based on a electromagnetic hammer and the deployment device that employs a pair of tubular booms. The requirements to be met and constraints imposed on the mechanisms led to a compact solution that, however, have to follow quite a complicated nine-stage scenario to fulfill its goal. The mechanisms developed for Rosetta evolved later into three different lines described shortly in the paper: mole-type penetrators that can go to deep subsurface, sample taking tools that exploit hammering mechanisms and ultralight deployment device.