Specialized Penetrometer Use for Extraterrestrial Surface Characterization

The specialized penetrometer is a lightweight, low-complexity instrument that can efficiently provide first approximations of geotechnical properties of a target surface to reduce mission risk. The instrument can provide information on the density and static friction properties of a surface, along with indicating variations in particle size. This work supports the Sample Acquisition, Morphology Filtering and Probing of Lunar Regolith (SAMPLR) payload that is set to fly on a future Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) mission. The study builds on previous research using a specialized penetrometer by analyzing individual tests to provide information about the character of a target surface. The experiments were conducted for this study using CSM-LHT-1 Lunar Highlands simulant at varying densities. The simulant was also split into coarse, mid, and fine particle distributions to examine specialized penetrometer responses to varying grain size distributions and static friction properties. The instrument was shown to be sensitive to density and static friction differences and to variations in particle size distributions. Through methodological advancements, this study demonstrates the use of a specialized penetrometer in understanding geotechnical properties of extraterrestrial surfaces, providing crucial data for future space exploration and resource utilization.