A drill built for Mars is being used to bore into Antarctic bedrock

[Judi Lynn]

Scientists hope to retrieve rock samples that reveal the continent’s climate history
BY CAROLYN GRAMLING 2:47PM, JANUARY 11, 2019



ICE CAMP Researchers working inside this tent at the British Antarctic Survey’s Skytrain Ice Rise site have drilled through more than 600 meters of ice to reach bedrock. Now, a drill once designed for Mars will be used to try to retrieve rock samples.

ERIC WOLFF

Once destined for Mars, a prototype drill has a new mission: To bore into rocks buried deep beneath the ice in Antarctica.

In early January, researchers from the University of Glasgow in Scotland took a modified version of their Martian drill to Antarctica. They’re poised to send it down to the bottom of a 651-meter deep ice borehole completed January 10 by researchers with the British Antarctic Survey, or BAS. The goal is to bring back pieces of Antarctic bedrock that could help determine how long ice has covered Skytrain Ice Rise, a site near the Antarctic Peninsula, and provide clues to its past climate.

The original Martian drill, an ultrasonic percussive design, was tested in 2016 in Antarctica, which is often used for as a proxy for research of more far-flung places off the planet. That machine was designed to work in the low gravity of Mars, which makes it tough to apply enough force to bore into hard rock. Ultrasonic vibrations kick the drill into motion, creating a back-and-forth, oscillatory movement that hammers the drill bit down into ground. As the drill was expected to be carried on an unmanned Mars rover, it was also designed to work nearly autonomously.

The machine’s small size and ability to work autonomously intrigued scientists with the BAS, who were looking for ways to drill into bedrock sitting at the bottom of a deep ice borehole. Antarctic scientists have portable drill systems for the relatively soft ice, but boring into the hard rock beneath presents a logistical challenge for scientists working on the remote continent, including shipping in a large drilling rig.

More:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/drill-built-mars-being-used-bore-antarctic-bedrock