Drill projects set to break new ground on Earth and in space

Two new research projects at the University of Glasgow are setting out to consider exploration at different extremes. One will drill bedrock from beneath the polar ice sheets, with the goal being to retrieve scientific samples, and the other will look at new ways to drill extraterrestrial surfaces to greater depths than have ever been reached before. Dr Patrick Harkness and Dr Kevin Worrall from the James Watt School of Engineering are leading the engineering research. The first project, called INCISED, is led by Durham University, funded by the European Research Council, and has set its sights on the Antarctic. The scientific research team will use the University of Glasgow's Percussive Rapid Access Isotope Drill (P-RAID) drill technology, which was developed in collaboration with Durham University and the British Antarctic Survey, to take samples of bedrock from underneath the ice sheet. The P-RAID is a rotary-percussive device that can be lowered from the polar surface to the bedrock. The drill's hammering action is carefully controlled by an autonomous system, originally developed for space applications, which uses as little force as possible.