NASA Desert RATS 2010: Preliminary Results for Science Operations Conducted in the San Francisco Volcanic Field, Arizona

Abstract The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is working with international partners to develop the space architectures and mission plans necessary for human spaceflight beyond Earth orbit. The Apollo missions to the Moon demonstrated conclusively that surface mobility is a key asset that improves the efficiency of human explorers on a planetary surface. NASA's Desert Research and Technology Studies (Desert RATS), a multi-year series of tests of hardware and operations carried out annually in the high desert of Arizona, has tested a crewed pressurized rover concept referred to as the Space Exploration Vehicle (SEV). During NASA's Desert RATS 2010, four 2-person crews driving two SEVs collectively conducted 12 days of field exploration in the San Francisco Volcanic Field in northern Arizona. They collected 461 samples, with a total mass of 161.2 kg, on 70 simulated extravehicular activities (EVAs). Each SEV crew traveled over 60 km during their field explorations. This paper illustrates where the actual field sites, or ‘science stations’, were located, provides a brief description of the types of samples collected at each station, and highlights some of the more interesting sites. Most of the geologic samples collected at Desert RATS 2010 were well documented at the site of collection, and upon delivery to the Johnson Space Center the samples were given a preliminary examination. The samples are available for further study by interested researchers developing scientific instruments for use on the surfaces of the Moon and Mars, or for geological investigations of the San Francisco Volcanic Field.