Mars drill for the Mars sample return mission with a Brushing and Abrading bit, regolith and powder bit, core PreView Bit and a coring bit

The first mission in the Mars Sample Return campaign is the 2018 Mars Astrobiology Explorer-Cacher (MAX-C) rover. Its goal is to acquire rock cores and regolith samples, hermetically seal them inside a cache, and leave the cache to be collected at a later stage. To help analyzing of rock samples in-situ before returning them to earth, we have developed five bits: a combined Brushing and Abrading Tool (BAT), a core PreView Bit, a Powder and Regolith Acquisition Bit (PRAB), and finally the Caching bit for acquiring rock cores ∼ 1 cm diameter and 5 cm long for sample return. The BAT uses the same approach as the Rock Abrasion Tool on the Mars Exploration Rovers to brush and abrade rocks. The PreView bit acquires a 2.5 cm long core which can be viewed through the slot inside the bit or placed onto an observation tray. The PRAB acquires rock powder during the drilling process or regolith sample. The sample can be stored for sample return or dispensed into an instrument cup. The PRAB has integrated sieves and can either acquire particles below certain diameter or retain particles above certain diameter. All the bits are deployed using the same drill. This paper reports on the development and testing of these bits as well as trade study investigating optimum core dimension.