1. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Penetrators in the Solar System MSSL/UCL UK Alan Smith on behalf of the UK Penetrator Consortium To Moon and beyond – Bremen 16 September 2008 and MoonLITE

2. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK What are kinetic penetrators ? Penetrator Point of Separation Payload Instruments Detachable De-orbit Stage PDS (Penetrator Delivery System)  Instrumented projectiles  Survive high impact speed  Penetrate surface ~ few metres  An alternative to soft landers  Low mass/lower cost => multi-site deployment

3. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Challenges...  impact survival  communications  power/lifetime/cold  delivery  funding

4. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Mars96 (Russia) failed to leave Earth orbit DS2 (Mars) NASA 1999 ?    ‘No survivable high velocity impacting probe has been successfully landed on any extraterrestrial body’ Japanese Lunar-A cancelled (now planned to fly on Russian Lunar Glob) History 

5. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Payload (2kg)Science Capability Micro seismometerssub-surface ocean, inner body structure (astrobiology, geophysics) Chemistry package (mass spec.)organics and inorganics (astrobiology) Soil/environment package (accelerometers, thermometer, dielectric constant, radiation monitor, magnetometer, pH, Redox) soil mechanical properties, thermal & electrical properties (astrobiology /geophysics) Mineralogy/astrobiology cameraSoil properties/astrobiology payload instrumentsMicro-Penetrators

6. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Prime Planetary Targets Moon Europa Enceladus Titan

7. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK 10Km Europa Subsurface Ocean

8. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Enceladus  500Km dia. (c.f. with UK)  Fierce south pole plume (ice/dust)  Hi-albedo covering Saturnian moons ?  ‘Atmosphere’ (H 2 O,N 2,CO 2,CH 4 )  Liquid water under surface (life ?) (image from Wikipedia)

9. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK A Comparison MoonEnceladusEuropa Orbital velocity 1.68 1.43 0.17 at surface (km/s) (3.7 to reach orbit) Radiation kRads MRads 10s KRads Surface 50-100K/250K 100K 70K temperature

10. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Titan Wikipedia Titan as seen from the Cassini– Huygens spacecraft. WikipediaCassini– Huygens Dunes Fluvial plain  heavy atmosphere  mountains,  dunes  lakes  weather  winds  clouds  precipitation  seasons  complex organic chemistry  very cold  pre-biotic chemisty ?  life ?

11. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Terminal Velocity  Assuming: –10kg, 12cm diam, Drag coefficient 0.2  Venus 34 m/s  Mars 1310 m/s  Titan 48 m/s  Earth 267 m/s PDS => Atmospheric braking

12. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK “The Origin and Evolution of Planetary Bodies” “Water and its profound implications for life and exploration” MoonLITE Science & Exploration Objectives “Ground truth & support for future human lunar missions”

13. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK MoonLITE Mission  Delivery and Comms Spacecraft (Orbiter).  Payload: 4 penetrator descent probes  Landing sites: Globally spaced - far side - polar region(s) - one near an Apollo landing site for calibration  Duration: >1 year for seismic network. 3 2 1 4 Far side Polar comms orbiter

14. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Development Program   Studies   Simulation & Modelling   Impact Trials – –build a real penetrator – –impact it into a sand target at near supersonic speed !

15. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Impact Trial - Objectives  Demonstrate survivability of penetrator shell, accelerometers and power system.  Assess impact on penetrator subsystems and instruments.  Determine internal acceleration environment at different positions within penetrator.  Extend predictive modelling to new impact and penetrator materials.  Assess alternative packing methods.  Assess interconnect philosophy.

16. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Impact Trial: 19-21 May 2008  Full-scale trial  3 Penetrators, Aluminium  300m/s impact velocity  Normal Incidence  Dry sand target 0.56m 13 Kg … just 9 months from start to end. Starting from scratch in Sep’07

17. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Impact trial - Contributors

18. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Impact trial – Payload Radiation sensor Magnetometers Batteries Mass spectrometer Micro-seismometers Drill assembly Accelerometers Power Interconnection Processing Accelerometers, Thermometer Batteries,Data logger

19. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Trial Hardware Inners Stack

20. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Impact Trial - Configuration  Rocket sled  Penetrator

21. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Target  Dry sand  2m x2m x6m  Small front entrance aperture (polythene)

22. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Real-Time Impact Video

23. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Firing

24. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK 1’st Firing - Results Penetrator found in top of target Glanced off a steel girder which radically changed its orientation. Penetration: ~3.9m Much ablation to nose and belly Rear flare quite distorted. Penetrator in one piece ✓ Firing parameters: Impact velocity: 310 m/s (c.f. 300m/s nominal) Nose-up ~8degs (c.f. 0 degs nominal) => worst case

25. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK 1 st Firing – internal Results Micro seismometer bay Connecting to MSSL accelerometer and data processing bay

26. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK 1’st Firing – QinetiQ accelerometer data Overview: 5 kgee smoothed, ~16 kgee peak high frequency components ~5khz Initial impact hi-res: Tail slap peak

27. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK 1’st Firing – MSSL accelerometer data Along axis:  Cutter: 3kgee  Main: 10kgee  Girder: 1kgee Along axis Vertical axis Horizontal axis FiringAlong axis VerticalHorizo ntal 1’st10 kgee15kgee4kgee 3’rd11kgee17kgee7kgee Peak gee forces in rear of penetrator 11 kgee 15 kgee 4 kgee GirderMain impactcutter

28. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Firings Overview  All 3 firings remarkably consistent ~308-310m/s velocity, and ~8 degs nose up.  All 3 Penetrators survived & Payloads still operational. Steel nose for 3rd firing

29. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Survival Table ItemFiring 1Firing 2Firing 3 Penetrator ✓✓✓ Q-accel sys ✓✓✓ Rad sensor ✓not present Batteries ✓not present Drill assembly ✓not present Magnetometer ✓not present Micro seismometers not present✓ (protected suspensions ok) Mass spectrometer + other package elements not present✓ x pressure sensor x 3” heating element ✓ x pressure sensor ✓ 6” heating element MSSL accel sys ✓✓✓ Triple worst case: exceed 300m/s, >8deg attack angle No critical failures – currently all minor to unprotected bays or preliminary mountings

30. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Impact Trial Objectives Demonstrate survivability of penetrator body, accelerometers and power system. Demonstrate survivability of penetrator body, accelerometers and power system. Assess impact on penetrator subsystems and instruments. Assess impact on penetrator subsystems and instruments. Determine internal acceleration environment at different positions within penetrator. Determine internal acceleration environment at different positions within penetrator. Extend predictive modelling to new penetrator materials, and impact materials. Extend predictive modelling to new penetrator materials, and impact materials. Assess alternative packing methods. Assess alternative packing methods. Assess interconnect philosophy. Assess interconnect philosophy.

31. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK Next Steps & Strategy …  Next trial – aiming for Sumer 09, then Spring 10.  Impact into closer representative lunar regolith  => Full-up system (all operating) (TRL5)  Transmit from target Strategy: in parallel :- - MoonLITE Phase-A ‾Delta developments for icy planets

32. To the Moon and beyond Bremen Sep 16 2008 MSSL/UCL UK - End - Penetrator website: http://www.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/planetary/missions/Micro_Penetrators.php email: as@mssl.ucl.ac.uk