Description: Soil Properties Assessment, Resistance, and Thermal Analysis (SPARTA) is a versatile, miniature, multi-tool instrument designed to provide in situ measurements of regolith densities as well as geomechanical, thermal, electrical, and chemical properties of dry or icy soils and permafrost on planetary surfaces. The payload consists of a robotically deployed cone penetrometer/vaneshear geotech tool that incorporates dielectric probe and thermal conductivity measurements for planetary surfaces at depths of up to 20 cm. The technology is designed to be deployed by a rover’s arm or body, or from a lander’s footpad.

Benefits:

SPARTA will address what was specifically called out in the 2020 LEAG report to: ”understand regolith densities with depth, cohesiveness, grain sizes, slopes, blockiness, association and effects of entrained volatiles.” These measurements are considered “enabling where trafficability is an issue. SPARTA measurements directly address these.

Future Customers
- In situ lunar missions such as NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services
- Data collection for fundamental science
- Ground truthing for NASA’s in situ resource utilization activities