ADVANCED MECHANISMS AND TRIBOLOGICAL TESTS OF THE HAMMERING SAMPLING DEV ICE CHOMIK

The paper highlights the most recent achievements of the team in the field of advanced space mechanisms: electromagnetic hammering drive, lock and release mechanism, and sample container separation mechanism used in the CHOMIK (Polish word for hamster) sampling device for the Phobos-Grunt (Phobos Sample Return) mission. The principle of operation of the CHOMIK instrument is based on the MUPUS penetrator device for the Rosetta mission; however, the features of construction are significantly different. Two of the mechanisms are entirely new and the third one is intrinsically improved. Moreover, a number of tribological tests on materials and surface layers used in the mechanisms have been conducted using a newly build vacuum pin-on-disk tribometer.