Comments on: Curiosity science team to attempt first drilling in a year https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/curiosity-science-team-to-attempt-first-drilling-in-a-year/ Sun, 25 Feb 2018 13:31:08 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Localfluff https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/curiosity-science-team-to-attempt-first-drilling-in-a-year/#comment-1042759 Sun, 25 Feb 2018 13:31:08 +0000 http://behindtheblack.com/?p=50410#comment-1042759 Here’s a KISSCaltech presentation about the ongoing engineering of a deep Mars drill, proposed to launch in 2029 on a third Curiosity rover clone. It would be a drill probe with instruments and all hanging in a tether.

Handling the cuttings seems to be the biggest challenge. But Mars’ near vacuum atmosphere makes it efficient to use pressurized gas to blow it up from a hole. To avoid getting the drill stuck in Mars’ frozen underground, the drill needs to be heated (I don’t know if it’s water or CO2 ice that glues the material together). It still requires surprisingly little energy to reach tens of meters depth. Sounds good for ISRU and infrastructure construction. Just drill holes and fill them with explosives to expose an underground glacier for example.

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