Soil Properties Assessment Resistance and Thermal Analysis (SPARTA)

Proposal Summary: The proposed effort seeks to develop a proof-of-concept, highly versatile, miniature instrument that will provide NASA with a new capability for in-situ measurements of the physical properties of regoliths (soil-like material, dry and ice-rich permafrost) for future surface landed missions. Our proposed instrument, the Soil shear Properties Assessment, Resistance, Thermal, Analysis multiTool – (SPARTA) will characterize the principal physical and chemical properties of regoliths, including thermal/electrical properties and chemical potentials of water and ice, through the integration of specialized tools into a small, portable instrument.

Methodology: Each of the components is based on classical terrestrial geotechnical instruments and none of the instruments or measurements has been deployed previously on any planetary surface (except Earth-Note: a double probe TECP was flown on Phoenix with mixed results, for SPARTA we are proposing a single probe instrument). The proposed research will bring each component up to a NASA Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3 for future integration into SPARTA. Instrument development will occur in two stages: Stage 1 is a three-year proposed effort (PICASSO) to design, fabricate, characterize, and demonstrate proof of concept in a controlled set of soil samples, for a soil probe capable of measuring: 1) Dielectric Spectroscopy (DS-measures water content and other physical properties using relative permittivity and soil relaxation times), 2) Thermal Conductivity/Soil Moisture Probe (TSP), 3) Vane Shear-Strength and Cone Penetration Measurements (VCT), and 4) Relative Humidity Probe (RHP). At the end of Stage 1 development, we will deliver a prototype of the SPARTA instrument that can be used for Phase 2 testing. In Phase 2 of SPARTA development (MatISSE), we will integrate the components into a breadboard for laboratory and field-testing with a surrogate robotic arm under varying environmental conditions.

Relevance: The proposed research will adapt several classical terrestrial geotechnical and chemical measurements to spaceflight operations to enable in-situ interrogation of extraterrestrial regoliths. Miniaturization will allow placement on a robotic arm, and subsets of components might also be placed on sample gathering apparatus, and lander footpads. The instrument’s simplicity, miniature size, as well as minimal sample and power handling requirements, are synergistic with existing spacecraft hardware (including CubeSats). This benefit enables use without taxing strict power, payload, communications and operational constraints of future surface and sub-surface explorer missions, making it ideal for in-situ surveys. More »