Aug 13 2008 2:38PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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Although the engineers didn’t design it for deep-space missions to other planets, RotoZip’s Duracut bit was onboard for the Phoenix Mission to Mars. Normally used to cut Earthly things such as cement board, stucco and plaster, the Duracut broke through Martian permafrost and enabled Mission Control scientists here to obtain and deliver the sample to the Lander’s laboratory oven for analysis.

“We are overjoyed that our Duracut bit helped to simplify the soil extraction process,” said Terry Horan, ROTOZIP President. “We knew our ROTOZIP bits were able to perform under harsh conditions but never imagined that something right off hardware shelves would also penetrate the surface of Mars."

The Phoenix Mission has been charged with discovering the history and existence of ice and water on the Red Planet. The mission will also monitor the polar regions’ weather, and determine whether the Martian environment has ever been favorable for sustaining microbial life. The challenge thus far has been gathering a large enough soil sample for analysis. 

The press release from RotoZip said it all, so I dare not paraphrase:

The rasp, or rapid active sampling package, is one of three methods being used to collect Martian soil samples. The rasp spins the ROTOZIP bit at high speeds enabling it to quickly and efficiently loosen bits of hard Martian soil and collect the shavings within a chamber in the heel of the Phoenix’s scoop. Materials can also be obtained by scooping the surface with a backhoe using the front titanium blade and scraping the surface with the tungsten carbide secondary blade on the bottom of the scoop. The scooping and scraping techniques are suitable for gathering dry, regolith-like samples, yet have yielded few results in acquiring samples from Mars’ concrete-like permafrost surface.