Planetary Drilling and Resources at the Moon and Mars

• Main Author: George, Jeffrey A.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Lunar and Planetary Science and Exploration; Arctic; South Pole; South pole
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20120016363

Drilling on the Moon and Mars is an important capability for both scientific and resource exploration. The unique requirements of spaceflight and planetary environments drive drills to different design approaches than established terrestrial technologies. A partnership between NASA and Baker Hughes Inc. developed a novel approach for a dry rotary coring wireline drill capable of acquiring continuous core samples at multi-meter depths for low power and mass. The 8.5 kg Bottom Hole Assembly operated at 100 We and without need for traditional drilling mud or pipe. The technology was field tested in the Canadian Arctic in sandstone, ice and frozen gumbo. Planetary resources could play an important role in future space exploration. Lunar regolith contains oxygen and metals, and water ice has recently been confirmed in a shadowed crater at the Moon.s south pole. Mars possesses a CO2 atmosphere, frozen water ice at the poles, and indications of subsurface aquifers. Such resources could provide water, oxygen and propellants that could greatly simplify the cost and complexity of exploration and survival. NASA/JSC/EP/JAG