Planetary Analogs for Drilling Automation Testing

Space drilling will require autonomous systems, both for robotic exploration and to support future human exploration, as energy, mass and human presence will be scarce. A series of planetary-prototype drilling projects have developed and fieldtested drilling automation and robotics technologies for projected use in missions during the 2010s. These have demonstrated automated control of the drilling process and topside drill string and sample handling. This paper will discuss past results in field tests of drilling automation software, and the tradeoffs between the use of planetary analog sites and laboratory testing. It will also discuss several different terrestrial analog sites (Arctic, Antarctic dry valleys, US southwest, Mauna Kea, Rio Tinto) in the varying roles needed to support validation of subsurface access for exploration of the subsurface on other planetary bodies, primarily focused on operations and requirements for drilling on the Moon and Mars, as well as contrasting these locations.