Supporting Human Exploration of Mars: Experimental Evaluation of Thermal Drilling for Water Extraction from Martian Glacier Ice

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2025

Department

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Abstract

Martian subterranean glacier ice is a valuable resource that could provide the water required for in situ life support and rocket fuel production. Rodriguez Well technology has been proposed as a means to access and extract this glacial ice. To investigate the energy requirements and efficiency of a thermal drill for Martian Rodriguez Well borehole creation, a scaled-down, simplified version of a Rodriguez Well melting drill bit was developed and tested in Martian atmospheric conditions. The small thermal probe was drilled into clear ice with two different actuation methods: gravity-driven actuation and motor-driven actuation. Thermal energy analysis of the resulting data shows that the average minimum specific energy for effective thermal drilling is 0.48±0.09 Wh/cm3 in Martian conditions, which is over an order of magnitude greater than mechanical drilling energy expenditure in similar conditions. However, maintaining a borehole pressure above Martian atmospheric pressure (>9 torr) halves the energy expenditure of the thermal drilling process, which could be used to improve the performance and energy efficiency of thermal drilling on Mars.

Publication Title

Journal of Aerospace Engineering

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