The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploration of New Terrains (TRIDENT); a One-Meter Drill for the Lunar Resource Prospector Mission

摘要

A desire to prospect for resources on the Moon, namely water, has led to the development of The Regolithand Ice Drill for Exploration of New Terrains (TRIDENT) drilling system. TRIDENT is a 16-kg rotarypercussive drill and deployment system that was designed to be deployed from a roving platform and drillto a depth of 1 meter. Designs and testing supported by the Resource Prospector (RP) mission haveenabled the TRIDENT system to reach a NASA TRL of 6. Through the development of this system, manylessons were learned. These include lessons learned for cable/pulley and capstan mechanisms, customslip-ring designs, instrumentation of temperature sensors for measuring subsurface temperatures, sampletransfer mechanisms, brazing tungsten carbide to titanium, and the replacement of the drill’s cable harnesswith flexible printed circuits. This summary highlights some of the major lessons learned along withrecommended designs and tests to improve the design of the TRIDENT.