Country of Origin: United States of America
Dimensions:
3-D Test: 119.4 x 8.9cm, 18.1kg (47 x 3 1/2 in., 40lb.)
Materials:
aluminin and tungston steel
Originally designed for a future Mars Penetrator mission, probes such as this have been extensively tested for planetary exploration. Instruments on a comet nucleus penetrator could relay back information on composition of unaltered subsurface comet material, the variation in temperature near the surface, and the strength of the surface. This penetrator was produced in the 1980s for drop tests in planning for a future Mars mission.
Transferred by NASA Ames Research Center
Transferred by NASA Ames Research Center
