For the past few millennia there have been two methods used to collect samples of extra-terrestrial rock. The first method entailed waiting for a bolide of some sort to impact the Earth and render a sample of rock from an undisclosed location. Not satisfied with this blind waiting game, engineers and scientists created rocket systems and landers which could fly to different worlds, sample rock directly from a target surface and return it home for study.
Although the latter method has yielded spectacular results, getting an object to land safely on a foreign world isn’t the simplest matter. To make the in situ sampling method easier, students at the University of Washington have been developing the Sample Return Systems for Extreme Environments (SRSEE).
Comprised of a rocket impactor that would burrow into a target, the SRSEE’s impact would be so great that it would bore several meters into a target. Once planted inside terra firma, ports on the SRSEE’s nose would capture samples of alien rock and deposit them in a capsule safely nested inside the once-ballistic impactor. After gathering all the material it can, the interior capsule would be reeled in via tether to a satellite floating nearby. That satellite could then conduct experiments and beam its findings pack to earth, or begin its return journey home.
While this whole plan seems like it might be a little too farfetched to be true, NASA has deemed it feasible enough to garner a $500K Innovative Advanced Concepts grant. In fact, the U. Washington team developing the SRSEE project has already begun real world experiments testing the validity of their design.
Earlier this year in the Black Rock Desert a number of SRSEE prototypes were floated to an altitude of 914m (3000ft) and sent crashing back to Earth. While the SRSEE prototypes survived their test Washington researchers determined they hadn’t reached a high enough altitude for “proper performance testing.” Although that news is a bit disappointing, the U. Washington team has plans to retest their prototypes from a higher altitude later this summer.
With these new rockets, space agencies and private space companies (particularly those interested in mining) could begin to exploit the wealth and information locked in asteroids and planets far afield. Could these rockets be a game changer in the rapidly evolving field of space exploration? Who knows. Is this an interesting and useful concept for the likes of SpaceX and others? Most definitely.
Image and Video Courtesy of the University of Washington