Sample Return Technology Successfully Tested on Xodiac Rocket
June 19, 2018 | NASAEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
Just a sample will do.
Honeybee Robotics in Pasadena, California, flight tested its pneumatic sampler collection system, PlanetVac, on Masten Space Systems’ Xodiac rocket on May 24, launching from Mojave, California, and landing to collect a sample of more than 320 grams of top soil from the surface of the desert floor.
“The opportunity to test a technology on Earth before it is destined for another planet allows researchers and mission planners to have confidence that once the technology arrives to its space destination it will work,” said Ryan Dibley, NASA Flight Opportunities program campaign manager. Flight Opportunities program funded the test flight.
PlanetVac is a surface soil collection system for a sample return mission. The configuration tested would replace a foot pad of a planetary lander spacecraft. The goal is to bring back a sample of surface soil from a celestial body.
“Bringing something back from another planet, celestial body, is the Holy Grail of planetary science,” said Justin Spring, senior project engineer for Honeybee Robotics. “It allows you to have something from another world, here, so Earth instruments can analyze it. We’re still analyzing what we collected from the moon years ago!”
The pneumatic sampler foot pad starts operation after the lander touches down on a surface. Compressed gas is injected into the foot pad enclosure, lofting the soil into a cyclone separator for collection.
“What it does is kind of like your vacuum,” said Spring. “It creates an area of high pressure in the front and uses an area of low pressure in the back to suck up the sample. The best thing about PlanetVac is how simple it is. Aside from a single actuator to trigger the gas flow, the system is entirely pneumatic, which reduces complexity and risk.”
“There are other ways to collect samples,” he adds. “The Mars Curiosity rover uses a drill. The Mars Phoenix lander had a scoop. But to keep it simple when all you need is surface dirt then using this pneumatic system can bring the sample back.”
“The Flight Opportunities program allowed us to take the PlanetVac idea and actually strap it on to Masten’s rocket putting it in a situation more realistic to what it might encounter in a space mission,” said Spring. “This reduces the risk since we now know it can survive both landing and heating loads as well as the rocket environment and still collect the sample and retain it to come back.”
Through the Flight Opportunities program, the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) selects promising technologies from industry, academia and government for testing on commercial launch vehicles and enables public-private partnerships for the agency. The program is funded by STMD and managed at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
STMD is responsible for developing the crosscutting, pioneering, new technologies and capabilities needed by the agency to achieve its current and future missions.
For more information about the Flight Opportunities Program, click here.
Suggested Items
Real Time with... IPC APEX EXPO 2024: AI Implementation at Omron
04/18/2024 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPOEditor Nolan Johnson and Omron Product Manager Nick Fieldhouse discuss the company's focus on AI implementation to enhance customer experience and results. They address programming challenges and how AI can help customers achieve better outcomes with less experience. Omron's AI is compatible with existing systems, facilitating easy upgrades.
Cadence Unveils Palladium Z3 and Protium X3 Systems
04/18/2024 | Cadence Design SystemsThe Palladium Z3 and Protium X3 systems offer increased capacity, and scale from job sizes of 16 million gates up to 48 billion gates, so the largest SoCs can be tested as a whole rather than just partial models, ensuring proper functionality and performance.
Real Time with... IPC APEX EXPO 2024: MYCRONIC's Evolution and New Solutions
04/17/2024 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPOHenry Crandall interviews Kevin Clue, the vice president of global sales for MYCRONIC's High Flex division. They discuss the company's evolution, emphasizing its strong customer relationships and its role as a versatile, turnkey solution provider. Kevin unveils new solutions launched at IPC APEX EXPO, including an AI-integrated inspection system and the A40 pick-and-place platform. The conversation also touches on the increased use of AI and deep learning.
Australian Flow Batteries and The SCHMID Group Announce Groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding
04/17/2024 | SCHMID GroupAustralian Flow Batteries Pty Ltd (AFB), a leader in innovative energy solutions and economical, safe, and reliable power storage, and SCHMID Energy Systems GmbH a company of the German SCHMID Group, a global technology leader with a rich history in delivering innovative solutions across multiple industries including Electronics, Renewables, and Energy Storage sectors, are thrilled to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
Ansys Joins BAE Systems’ Mission Advantage Program to Advance Digital Engineering Across US Department of Defense
04/16/2024 | ANSYSAnsys announced it is working with BAE Systems, Inc., to accelerate the adoption of digital engineering and MBSE across the Department of Defense (DoD).