THE INCHWORM DEEP DRILLING SYSTEM FOR KILOMETER SCALE SUBSURFACE EXPLORATION OF EUROPA

Abstract

Introduction: The Inchworm Deep Drilling System (IDDS) is a compact subsurface transport system capable of accessing regions of astrobiological interest deep below the surface of Jupiter’s moon, Europa. The IDDS answers Focus Investigation Area 1 as an innovative concept for implementing subsurface exploration of Europa. The concept is being developed at Honeybee Robotics to reach depths on the order of one kilometer with no tether or umbilical of any kind. The device’s unique, inchworm-burrowing method appears capable of achieving this near-term depth goal and it is foreseeable that the IDDS will be capable of autonomously drilling to tens of kilometers below the surface. Logical applications of the concept also include accessing the proposed subsurface oceans on Ganymede and Callisto, subsurface water ice on Mars, and Lake Vostok on Earth. The conference presentation will communicate the IDDS concept and how it can enable the search for prebiotic and biotic chemical processes on Europa by bringing proper instrumentation to the subsurface ocean for in-situ investigation and/or returning samples to the surface. Currently, a proposal for breadboarding the IDDS is pending for the Research Opportunities for Space Science’s Astrobiology Science & Technology Instrument Development NRA. The Basic IDDS Conceptual Framework: The IDDS is largely a convergence of concepts from two previous devices designed and produced by Honeybee Robotics. The planetary surface burrowing mole concept extends our work on a tethered subsurface sampler effort conducted in 1993 for Dr. Paul Mahaffy at NASA GSFC[1]. And the inchworm burrowing method is a direct application of our work on the Welding & Inspection Steam Operations Robot (WISOR), a steam tunnel-walking robot provided for the Consolidated Edison Corp. of New York. The IDDS robot is between 10 and 15 centimeters in diameter and 1 meter in length. Two symmetrical segments comprise the IDDS, each with a drill bit and a set of three shoes. Figure 1 below shows a rendering of the concept. The IDDS gets around problems posed by tethers or umbilicals through the employment of drilling techniques developed by Honeybee Robotics for the Athena Mini-Corer that require no more power than that offered by a radioisotopic thermoelectric generator (RTG) or a successor technology. The high reliability, power density, and output duration of next generation power supplies such as the Sterling Power System (SPS) state a strong case for their use in a kilometerdeep burrowing device. Figure 1: CAD Rendering of the IDDS concept