Planetary drills exploring 1-2 meters subsurface are at the heart of many current Mars drilling concepts. The Icebreaker drill from Honeybee Robotics is a leading technology for future missions seeking subsurface biological signatures and enhanced geotechnical analysis from a compact platform.
The Icebreaker drill is designed to reach rock and soil samples from depths less affected by cosmic radiation, providing insight into geochemistry and the habitability of environments on Mars or other celestial bodies.
The drill’s robust and fault-tolerant design enables Icebreaker to perform reliably in unstructured environments. Icebreaker has completed field testing in harsh environments, including the Dry Valleys of Antarctica, to simulate penetrating into the Martian ice and permafrost. The drill has also performed to specifications in Honeybee’s 3.5-meter-tall vacuum chamber, which simulates the Martian environment.