Extraterrestrial Soil Mechanics

The project deals with the determination of mechanical parameters of planetary surfaces with cone penetration tests. Experience for this research was gained from the work for the Rosetta Lander and the project Mars/NetLander with its instrument SPICE. Mainly it is subdivided into the following parts: In the first part different Martian soil analogue materials are selected and characterized from the geotechnical point of view. Subsequent to the determination of the parameters penetration tests are performed. The aim is to establish a comparison matrix of the soil mechanical parameters and the measured force on the tip of the penetrometer. In the third part the gained experimental data will be used to calibrate numerical models for granular materials. Therefore it is planned to calculate the penetration process with continuum-mechanical methods as well as with discrete element methods.