logs from outer space

8/10/2019 Logs From Outer Space

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LOGS FROM OUTER SPACEA log is a record of some observation versus time or distance, presented on an X-Ycoordinate graph, a written narrative, or an audio or video report. Pilots, truckers. taxi-drivers, and tourists all keep logs. So do oil well drillers and other intrepid explorers whowalk the Moon or operate robots on or near other planets. We even have logs frominterstellar space. The Voyager 1 spacecraft, launched in Sept 1977, has recorded logs over

the longest distances yet measured.

The documented geological record of the Earth is the longest time-based record so far,unless you want to count the less-well documented history of the Universe beginning beforethe Big Bang.

Trajectories of Voy ager and Pioneer spacecraft as t hey leave the solar sy stem (2007).

Voyager 1 is r is ing above the ecl ip t ic and Voyager 2 is dropp ing below i t . Who knows what

these logging too ls w i l l f ind? Pioneer 10 and 11 are leaving more slow ly and in opposi te

directions , but neither is sti l l logging w hat they see.

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon-walk by Buzz Aldrin in July 1969,let's look at the Lunar logs run 2 years after that famous "Giant Leap for Mankind".

FIRST LOGS ON THE MOON

Lord Kelvin's temperature / heat flow experiments in1846 (and onward) were duplicated by Apollo 15astronauts on the lunar surface in June 1971. The holeswere only 1.5 to 3.2 meters deep and the logging toolwas stationary, but the results were recorded versusdepth, so these surveys are the first petrophysical logsrecorded off planet Earth.


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Schlumberger's early work in France.

The lunar results: "The Moon is very dry". Golly, who would have guessed that? But don'tdespair. The moon has been mapped for neutron absorption and some areas absorbneutrons better than others. Hydrogen, hydrocarbon, or water? Or some other absorber (likeiron for example)? Who knows.

Harr ison " Jack" Schmidt d eploy ing the Surface Electr ical

Properties equipm ent (SEP) during A pol lo 17 mis sion, 1972. ==>

Below are samples of the temperature logs taken during Apollo 15 in 1971.

First logs o n the Moo n, Apo l lo 15, 1971. These temperature versus depth log s paral lel simi lar

surveys by Lord K elv in in 1869. The lunar temperature probes cont inued to transm i t data to

Earth after the astronauts left the Moon. On Terra, we were just beginn ing to reco rd logs in

d ig i ta l form, and w ere a couple of years from sending dig i ta l logs by satel l i te to proc essing

centers. X's represents pr ojected stabi l ized temperature profi le.


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Apol lo 17 densi ty logs m easured on co re

samples(depths are in centim eters).


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Sketches of c ores taken by A pol lo 17 crews o n the Moo n, 1972. Each core im age is about 30

to 38 cm

in length. Both d riven and dri l led cores w ere taken in the lunar soi l .

The two drive-tube cores from Apollo 16 and 17 have neverbeen seen by human eyes. They were sealed in their tubesunder the vacuum of the moon and sealed in a secondvacuum container at the vault in Houston. These pristine

samples await investigation by "more sophisticatedtechniques" than are presently available. High resolutioncore photos like the one at the left areathttp://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/cores/cores.cfm.

For more information:http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/as15psr.pdfhttp://history.nasa

.gov/alsj/a16/as16psr.pdfhttp://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/as17psr.pdf

FIRST LOGS ON MARSThe Thermal and Electrical Conductivity Probe(TECP) on the Mars Phoenix Lander was designedto measure petrophysical properties on and nearthe surface of Mars. Physical properties of the near-
http://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/cores/cores.cfmhttp://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/cores/cores.cfmhttp://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/cores/cores.cfmhttp://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/as15psr.pdfhttp://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/as15psr.pdfhttp://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/as16psr.pdfhttp://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/as16psr.pdfhttp://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/as16psr.pdfhttp://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/as17psr.pdfhttp://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/as17psr.pdfhttp://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/as17psr.pdfhttp://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/as16psr.pdfhttp://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/as16psr.pdfhttp://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/as15psr.pdfhttp://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/cores/cores.cfm


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surface of Mars were recorded during a 5 month period from June to October 2008.

Phoenix was equipped with a miniature back-hoe (called the Robotic Arm or RA for short) todig trenches and deliver soil samples to other experiments inside the space craft. The TECPprobe was mounted on the pivot at the RA scoop so it could be pressed into the surface soilor the wall of a trench.

TECP is the 4-pin device above the Robotic Arm scoop nearcenter of picture, the needles are 15 mm long ==>

The TECP is adapted from the commercial KD-2 multi-purpose probe made by DecagonDevices. The four-pin probe determines electrical conductivity by a two-pin LC (dielectricconstant) approach and a redundant four-pin van der Pauw technique. The 4 pin EC methodis similar to the Schlumberger four electrode AMNB surface resistivity electrodearrangement from the early 1900's.

Thermal conductivity is measured by a pulse-decay method using aheater and a thermocouple pair embedded in the pins.


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True colour pho to im age of a Mars Phoenix trench. White areas are bel ieved to be water ice,

as

they appear to subl imate slowly after exposu re to the Martian atmo sph ere. Samples were

proc essed in the Thermal Evolved Gas An alyzer (TEGA).

Phoenix was purposely placed on the Martian Arctic Plain. It is cold there, but notimpossibly so - a mere 70 C colder than the Canadian Arctic Islands, where we have foundmore than 17 Tcf of natural gas. So who is ready to drill on Mars?


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University, University of Alberta, Dalhousie University, Optech, and the Geological Survey ofCanada designed and monitored the science operations of the station, which was built byCanadarm maker MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. of Richmond, B.C.

For more information:

http://an.rsl.wustl.edu/phx/psearch.htmhttp://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/index.html

FUTURE LOGS IN OUTER SPACEAfter Phoenix comes MARTE, a stratigraphicdrilling program for Mars. Mars AstrobiologyResearch and Technology Experiment(MARTE) performed a field test simulating arobotic drilling mission on Mars inSeptember 2005. The experiment took placein Minas de Riotinto in southwestern Spain, ahighly relevant Mars analog site. The

experiment utilized a 10 m class dry augercoring drill, a robotic core sample handlingsystem, onboard science and life detectioninstruments, and a borehole inspectionprobe, all of which were mounted to asimulated lander platform.

Prototype robotic drilling rig for Mars ==>

The prototype robot drilling/coring/loggingmachine reached 10 meters. Plans for 100meter capability are in the works. Theobjective is to advance the search for life onMars, but where there is life, there is apossibility of hydrocarbons. There ismethane in the Martian atmosphere andspectroscopy mapping indicates thepresence of clay and carbonate rocks, aswell as the more obvious lava, dust, and other sediments. Interested parties canapplyHEREfor drilling concessions.

MARTE can drill, core, and run neutron and fluorescence logs. Neutron logs see water andice; fluorescence logs see bacteria. The Ames tool is so sensitive, it can see a singlebacterium. The core samples can be analyzed on the drilling platform, then stacked forfuture examination. The remote sensing core analyzer can face or saw core samples, runspectrography, and prepare powder samples.

The borehole inspection system (BHIS) runs the neutron probe, a panoramic microscopicimager, and spectrometer. The borehole neutron log (BneuP) measures both thermal andepithermal neutron count rates. A surface version of the tool, to be carried on a Mars rover,is called (you guessed it) SneuP. It is intended as a dowsing machine, looking for hiddennear surface water or ice deposits.
http://an.rsl.wustl.edu/phx/psearch.htmhttp://an.rsl.wustl.edu/phx/psearch.htmhttp://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/index.htmlhttp://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/index.htmlmailto:[email protected]?subject=INQUIRY:%20Mars%20Logging%20Articlemailto:[email protected]?subject=INQUIRY:%20Mars%20Logging%20Articlemailto:[email protected]?subject=INQUIRY:%20Mars%20Logging%20Articlemailto:[email protected]?subject=INQUIRY:%20Mars%20Logging%20Articlehttp://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/index.htmlhttp://an.rsl.wustl.edu/phx/psearch.htm


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Sample of a BneuP log run in a manm ade ice / so i l test p i t .

It's all real and working (almost). We just have to get it there and get to work.

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