Development and testing of a rotary percussive Sample Acquisition Tool

Abstract

A low mass Sample Acquisition Tool (SAT) has been developed that can be used autonomously to percussively core, fracture, and capture rock cores. The tool was developed as part of the Integrated Mars Sample Acquisition and Handling (IMSAH) architecture allowing for end to end sample capture and caching as it relates to the proposed Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign. The key element of the tool design, as it pertains to the IMSAH architecture, is the ability to drill and capture rock cores directly into a sample tube. In doing so, the sample tube becomes the handling element within the IMSAH sample handling chain significantly reducing the possibility of sample contamination and uncertainty related to handling a sample of unknown geometry. In order to validate the tool's unit level functionality a series of verification and validation tests have been performed utilizing a rock test suite that encompasses a variety of rock types that are analogous to Martian rocks and have been used in the past to qualify Martian surface sampling hardware. The results of the testing have shown the tool can successfully generate, fracture, and capture rock cores within a sample tube for all of the rocks within the proposed test suite. Additionally, the tool does so while maintaining torque margins of no less than 50% for all mechanisms with an average power consumption of no greater than 90W and a tool mass of less than 6kg.