Development of Venus Drill

Venera 13 was the first Venus surface mission with sampling capabilities. Its rotary drill successfully penetrated the surface and pneumatically transferred material to the science instrument within the insulated interior of the spacecraft. Follow-on missions in the Venera and Vega program repeated that feat. These missions demonstrated that it is possible for an electric motor to function at Venus conditions and that it is possible to drill Venus surface material and pneumatically transfer captured sample under Venus conditions. Unfortunately, design details for the sampling system do not exist or cannot be located. Hence for any future Venus surface missions, the sampling technology has to be designed without any prior knowledge of materials or methods. To help advance Venus sampling technology, Honeybee Robotics in partnership with NASA JPL has been developing critical components that would make Venus sampling possible. To date, three types of motors (Switched Reluctance, Brushless DC, and Stepper), a Pulsed Injection Position Sensor (PIPS) for commutation and position control, and planetary gearboxes have been fabricated and tested at Venus Temperature and/or Venus Temperature and Pressure. This paper summarizes past work and presents the current state-of-art technology related to Venus sampling drill for the New Frontiers Venus lander proposal called In-situ Surface and Atmospheric Geochemical Explorer (VISAGE).