Surface Sample Acquisition and Caching Device for Chinese lunar sample return plan

Abstract

Surface Sample Acquisition and Caching Device (SSACD) is an underway equipment which is designed for the upcoming Chinese Lunar Exploration Stage III: lunar sample return. Considering the characteristics of lunar environment and soil, the scoop of SSACD is a bionic design which would have lower digging resistance and higher efficiency. The unlocking mechanism is driven by motor and wire rope directly which has advantages of high reliability and low power lost. A percussion mechanism is introduced to guarantee the lunar sample could be transferred easily in low gravity. Some parts of SSACD are designed with triggered passive mechanism for lowering the power consumption. The prototype of SSACD has been built up to demonstrate the practical effect and some primary experiments are delivered to validate the mechanism design. And a future prospect of SSACD applications is discussed at the end of this paper.