Title: Compliant extravehicular activity sample size location and calibration marker

Authors: Christian Pirruccio; Kiril Nikolov; Mohammad Abu Rafe Biswas

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Houston Engineering Center, The University of Texas at Tyler, 2811 Hayes Rd., Houston, TX 77082, USA ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Houston Engineering Center, The University of Texas at Tyler, 2811 Hayes Rd., Houston, TX 77082, USA ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Houston Engineering Center, The University of Texas at Tyler, 2811 Hayes Rd., Houston, TX 77082, USA

Abstract: Set for 2024, the Artemis III mission will include the first crewed moon landing since 1972 Apollo mission in which astronauts will be tasked with collecting geological lunar rock samples. The focus of this project is to design a compliant, safe, and easily operable device for astronauts which will serve as an identification tool for geological specimens throughout the course of the Artemis extravehicular activity (EVA) missions. The compliant EVA sample marker proposed in this report will consist of a compact cylindrical tube body housing a tripod leg structure which will be easily deployable and will allow the marker to remain upright on various irregular surfaces while providing a photometric reference to assist in identifying samples of interest. An operations plan for testing at the Neutral Buoyance Laboratory (NBL) has been developed and conducted to further validate the effectiveness of the marker's operationality and ease of use.

Keywords: extravehicular activity; EVA; sample marker; compliant; natural buoyancy laboratory; design; Artemis III; lunar specimen; astronaut; photometric; tripod; mechanism.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSPR.2023.132512

International Journal of Student Project Reporting, 2023 Vol.1 No.3, pp.261 - 282

Received: 21 Jul 2022
Accepted: 14 Dec 2022
Published online: 25 Jul 2023 *

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