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Field Tests With Trident Drill in Bishop Tuff Help Prepare for Future Missions to Moon and MarsWe performed drilling in volcanic deposits near Bishop California using an engineering model of the Honeybee Robotics TRIDENT (The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploration of New Terrains) drill [1] a rotary percussive 1-meter class drill that is carried on the PRIME1and VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover)[2] missions that launch in 2024. A similar drilling system was planned for the proposed Icebreaker Discovery class mission to Mars [3] and the Mars Life Explorer mission recommended by the 2020 Decadal Survey of planetary science [4].

The objectives of the project were (1) to use data collected by the drill for operational purposes as a probe
of subsurface material properties in formations that are analogous to those that may be encountered on
planetary surfaces; (2) correlate subsurface structures with those deduced from Ground Penetrating Radar
(GPR); and (3) inspect the boreholes after they were drilled to test PERISCOPE (Probe for Exploring Regolith and Ice by Subsurface Classification of Organics, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and Elements), a newly developed downhole UV fluorescence spectrometer [5].
Document ID
20240000608
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Carol R. Stoker
(Ames Research Center Mountain View, United States)
Brian J. Glass
(Ames Research Center Mountain View, United States)
C. Walter
(USGS)
Heather D. Smith
(Ames Research Center Mountain View, United States)
E. Eshelman
(Montanna State Univ. Bozemn, Montana)
A. Aksay
(Cornell University Ithaca, United States)
Date Acquired
January 15, 2024
Subject Category
Lunar and Planetary Science and Exploration
Meeting Information
Meeting: 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC)
Location: The Woodlands, TX
Country: US
Start Date: March 11, 2024
End Date: March 15, 2024
Sponsors: Lunar and Planetary Institute
Funding Number(s)
WBS: 811073.02.52.01.48
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Portions of document may include copyright protected material.
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