Horne, A. | Search NASA

NASA NTRS2016

Pre-Mission Input Requirements to Enable Successful Sample Collection by A Remote Field/EVA Team

The FINESSE (Field Investigations to Enable Solar System Science and Exploration) team, part of the Solar System Exploration Virtual Institute (SSERVI), is a field-based research program aimed at generating strategic knowledge in preparation for human and robotic exploration of the Moon, near-Earth asteroids, Phobos and Deimos, and beyond. In contract to other technology-driven NASA analog studies, The FINESSE WCIS activity is science-focused and, moreover, is sampling-focused with the explicit intent to return the best samples for geochronology studies in the laboratory. We used the FINESSE field excursion to the West Clearwater Lake Impact structure (WCIS) as an opportunity to test factors related to sampling decisions. We examined the in situ sample characterization and real-time decision-making process of the astronauts, with a guiding hypothesis that pre-mission training that included detailed background information on the analytical fate of a sample would better enable future astronauts to select samples that would best meet science requirements. We conducted three tests of this hypothesis over several days in the field. Our investigation was designed to document processes, tools and procedures for crew sampling of planetary targets. This was not meant to be a blind, controlled test of crew efficacy, but rather an effort to explicitly recognize the relevant variables that enter into sampling protocol and to be able to develop recommendations for crew and backroom training in future endeavors.

FINESSE↗

NASA NTRS2015

Revisiting the West Clearwater Lake Impact Structure, Canada

The West and East Clearwater Lake impact structures are two of the most distinctive and recognizable impact structures on Earth. Known regionally as the "Clearwater Lake Complex", these structures are located in northern Quebec, Canada (56 deg 10 N, 74 deg 20 W) approximately 125 km east of Hudson Bay. The currently accepted diameters are 36 km and 26 km for the West and East structures, respectively. Long thought to represent a rare example of a double impact, recent age dating has called this into question with ages of approximately 286 Ma and approximately 460-470 Ma being proposed for the West and East structures, respectively. Relatively little is known about the East Clearwater Lake structure. There is no surface exposure and what information there is comes from geophysics and two drill cores obtained in the 1960s. In contrast, the West Clearwater Lake structure is relatively well preserved with large ring of islands in the approximately 30 km diameter lake. Much of the work done on West Clearwater stems from field investigations carried out in 1977 driven by the Apollo program, with a focus on the impact melt rocks and other impactites, which are well exposed on the ring of islands. To our knowledge, the Clearwater Lake impact structures have not been the focus of detailed impact geology field investigations since the 1977 expedition and the only geological map that exists is from the 1960s and is at the reconnaissance level. Our knowledge of impact cratering processes have increased substantially since this time, as have the analytical techniques available for samples. This provided the motivation for a joint Canadian-US-UK expedition to the West Clearwater Lake impact structure in August and September 2015, under the auspices of the FINESSE (Field Investigations to Enable Solar System Science and Exploration) project, part of NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI). We focus here on the impactites of the West Clearwater Lake impact structure. Other ongoing studies, also presented at this conference, focus on central uplift formation, the impact-generated hydrothermal system, xxxx and using WCIS as an analog test site for crew studies of sampling protocols].

West Clearwater Lake↗