Geotechnical Properties of Asteroids Affecting Surface Operations, Mining, and In Situ Resource Utilization Activities
| Autor: | Philip T. Metzger, Edward B. Bierhaus, David M. Reeves, Jerome B. Johnson, Paul Sánchez, Leslie S. Gertsch, Anton V. Kulchitsky, Daniel J. Scheeres, Christine Hartzell, Daniel T. Britt, Kris Zacny, Benton C. Clark |
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| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Spacecraft business.industry In situ resource utilization Mars Exploration Program Granular material 01 natural sciences Regolith Asteroid 0103 physical sciences Cohesion (chemistry) Geotechnical engineering business 010303 astronomy & astrophysics Geology Soil mechanics 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
| DOI: | 10.1016/b978-0-12-813325-5.00008-2 |
| Popis: | Geotechnical properties of a granular material affect all surface operations from mobility to landing and excavation. As such, significant efforts to study and model these properties are necessary before sending a spacecraft. Lack of knowledge of regolith material properties adversely affected Apollo, Lunokhod, and Mars Exploration Rover missions; hence additional measures need to be undertaken to prevent potential failures or delays of future missions, in particular missions to explore low-gravity asteroidal surfaces. Geotechnical properties of regolith include cohesion and friction angle, which affect material strength. Friction angle is gravity-dependent, whereas cohesion is not. It is therefore much easier to study and model surface regolith on planetary bodies with significant gravity such as the Moon or Mars. If gravity becomes extremely low, for example, on asteroids, cohesive forces start to dominate. This chapter addresses geotechnical properties of asteroid regolith and their implications for safe mission surface operations. The chapter starts with a high-level overview of soil mechanics followed by an overview of asteroid's regolith from past and current missions. Models related to regolith are presented with specific emphasis on sources of cohesion. Several examples of surface operations are given (landing, boulder retrieval, excavation) to illustrate the effect of various properties on the hardware. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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