Identifying and Quantifying Volatile Content and Geotechnical Properties in the lunar PSRs

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

11-3-2021

Department

Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics; Department of Social Sciences; Department of Chemical Engineering

Abstract

With increased international interest in returning to the lunar surface and harvesting the water ice in the permanently shaded regions it is clear many uncertainties about the geotechnical properties, type and quantity of volatiles remain. Current state of the art in-situ measurements cannot uniquely determine what volatiles are present while determining geotechnical properties. No volatile release profile database exists currently. As part of the inaugural NASA Lunar Surface Technology Research (LuSTR) program, our approach to use a Percussive Hot Cone Penetrometer (DHCP) in combination with Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was selected for funding. The team from Michigan Technological University (MTU) and Honeybee Robotics (HBR) will perform this work in two years from 2021-2023. This paper will describe the progress made over the initial summer testing.

Publisher's Statement

Copyright © 2021 by Paul van Susante. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., with permission. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2021-4044

Publication Title

ASCEND 2021

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