Prototype ExoMars Drill assembly
Date: 09 July 2010
Copyright: SELEX Galileo
This photograph, which shows a prototype ExoMars Drill assembly - comprised of the drill unit and the soil sample container - was taken during a series of drilling and sampling tests performed at the Centre of Space Studies and Activities (CISAS) of the University of Padova, Italy, in April 2008. The objective of this test campaign, which was carried out in Mars-like conditions, was to verify the drilling and sampling performance of the ExoMars Drill prototype.
An environmental chamber (the large metal container in the background) simulated the environmental conditions of Mars, that is, a temperature range of -130°C to + 40 °C and a pressure range of 5 to 10 mbar. No humidity (i.e., no ice) was added to the materials that were selected to simulate the Martian soil.
The most interesting output from this test campaign is that in these simulated conditions – low temperature, low pressure and dry conditions - the functional behaviour and the performance of the Drill are completely similar to the ones observed during several tests performed in the normal terrestrial environment of a laboratory. The test campaign lasted approximately 10 working days, 5 days for the test set-up and 5 days for performing the tests.
Note: The same environmental chamber in CISAS was used by SELEX Galileo for the development, qualification and acceptance testing of the SD2 Drill, on Rosetta's Philae Lander.
