Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10397/73760
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Title: The Phobos-Grunt microgravity soil preparation system
Authors: Yung, KL 
Lam, CW 
Ko, SM 
Foster, JA 
Issue Date: Dec-2017
Source: Acta astronautica, Dec. 2017, v. 141, p. 22-29
Abstract: To understand the composition of regolith on distant bodies it is important to make quantitative measurement of its composition. However, many instruments on board space missions can only make qualitative measurements. The SOil Preparation SYStem (SOPSYS) designed for the Phobos-grunt mission in 2011 was a unique spacecraft subsystem that can grind, sieve, transport and measure samples of regolith in the absence of gravity. Its mission was to produce a compact plug of regolith sample composed of particles no larger than 1 mm for a gas analytic package. It delivers a sample with specified volume enabling a quantitative analysis of the volatiles produced at different temperatures through heating. To minimize cross contamination, SOPSYS self-cleans after each sample is delivered. The apparatus was a cooperative development between China and Russia for the Phobos-Grunt mission to the Martian moon Phobos and will be reused on the upcoming reattempt of that mission and other similar missions. The paper presents an overview of the subsystem and the results of qualification model testing. The flight unit of SOPSYS has a low mass of 622 g including control electronics and compact dimensions of 247 mm by 102 mm by 45 mm.
Keywords: Phobos
Phobos-Grunt
Preparation
Sample
Sample return
SOPSYS
Publisher: Pergamon
Journal: Acta astronautica 
ISSN: 0094-5765
DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2017.09.026
Rights: © 2017 IAA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
© 2017. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
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