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Published January 16, 2018 | Published
Journal Article Open

Uniaxial compressive strengths of rocks drilled at Gale crater, Mars

Abstract

Measuring the physical properties of geological materials is important for understanding geologic history. Yet there has never been an instrument with the purpose of measuring mechanical properties of rocks sent to another planet. The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover employs the Powder Acquisition Drill System (PADS), which provides direct mechanical interaction with Martian outcrops. While the objective of the drill system is not to make scientific measurements, the drill's performance is directly influenced by the mechanical properties of the rocks it drills into. We have developed a methodology that uses the drill to indicate the uniaxial compressive strengths of rocks through comparison with performance of an identically assembled drill system in terrestrial samples of comparable sedimentary class. During this investigation, we utilize engineering data collected on Mars to calculate the percussive energy needed to maintain a prescribed rate of penetration and correlate that to rock strength.

Additional Information

© 2017 American Geophysical Union. Received 6 OCT 2017; Accepted 22 DEC 2017; Accepted article online 29 DEC 2017. This research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The authors acknowledge the extraordinary work executed by the MSL engineering and science operations teams. We thank Juergen Schieber, Bernard Hallet, Ronald Sletten, Kris Zacny, and Bradley Thomson whose comments and guidance have greatly improved this manuscript. Readers can access the data underlying the manuscripts conclusions in this repository: https://issues.pangaea.de/browse/PDI-16486.

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Published - Peters_et_al-2018-Geophysical_Research_Letters.pdf

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Created:
August 21, 2023
Modified:
October 18, 2023