Comments on: How to drill rocks on Mars https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/how-to-drill-rocks-on-mars/ Tue, 24 Feb 2015 17:26:42 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Pzatchok https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/how-to-drill-rocks-on-mars/#comment-719106 Tue, 24 Feb 2015 17:26:42 +0000 http://behindtheblack.com/?p=33092#comment-719106 It sort of fits if you think about it.

there are no plate tectonics on Mars.
No Molten core to allow any more of the lower highly compressed rocks a chance to rise to the surface.
At did have a little geologic activity a long time ago but all that rock is pretty much either worn away by sand storms and wind or buried now.
There isn’t even any volcanic activity to bring more of that type to the surface.

]]> By: jburn https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/how-to-drill-rocks-on-mars/#comment-718842 Tue, 24 Feb 2015 03:46:11 +0000 http://behindtheblack.com/?p=33092#comment-718842 Maybe the abundance of water (and thick atmosphere) wind on our planet has eroded these kinds of rocks to sand. Without much water on Mars the soft rocks remain intact. I wonder how the strength of Martian rocks would compare to those on Luna.

]]> By: Robert Zimmerman https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/how-to-drill-rocks-on-mars/#comment-718770 Tue, 24 Feb 2015 00:13:10 +0000 http://behindtheblack.com/?p=33092#comment-718770 In reply to mivenho.

Yes, I thought of that as well. I suspect the engineering concerns related to the drill’s electrical system helped prompt the decision to try out lower power settings.

]]> By: mivenho https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/how-to-drill-rocks-on-mars/#comment-718768 Mon, 23 Feb 2015 23:36:08 +0000 http://behindtheblack.com/?p=33092#comment-718768 Might the lower setting also lower the risk of catastrophic short circuit, a flaw discovered just prior to Curiosity’s launch in 2011?

]]> By: wodun https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/how-to-drill-rocks-on-mars/#comment-718686 Mon, 23 Feb 2015 18:24:17 +0000 http://behindtheblack.com/?p=33092#comment-718686 “The engineers have found that the rocks they have drilled into on Mars have been more fragile that expected, which actually shouldn’t be a surprise, due to the lower gravity. ”

Hmm, interesting. This has implications for any future settlement in terms of construction material or structural strength of the walls in man made caves.

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