THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AN INTELLIGENT DRILLING SYSTEM FOR MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION WHILE DRILLING. THIS SYSTEM COULD BE USED FOR SURFACE EXPLORATION ON THE MOON AND MARS TO A SHALLOW DEPTH AND IDENTIFY THE DEPTH OF SURFACE REGOLITH IN LOOSE AND FROZEN FORM AND ALSO IDENTIFY COMPACTED MATERIAL AND VOLCANIC BOULDERS. THIS IS IN LINE WITH THE NASA ESI SOLICITATION TOPIC #4 EXTRACTION OF WATER FROM HARD EXTRATERRESTRIAL SOILS . IN PARTICULAR THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THE FIRST IDENTIFIED TOPIC: INSTRUMENTS TO MEASURE GEOTECHNICAL PROPERTIES INCLUDING DENSITY WITH DEPTH COHESION SHEAR DEFORMATION MODULUS SHEAR STRENGTH INTERNAL FRICTION ANGLE MODULUS OF FRICTION AND MODULUS OF COHESION . THE PROPOSED WORK IS IN COLLABORATION WITH CENTER FOR SPACE RESOURCES (SCR) AND EARTH MECHANICS INSTITUTE (EMI) AT THE COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES (CSM). THE INTENT IS TO DEVELOP A LOW POWERED DRILL UNIT FOR ROTARY DRILLING ON LUNAR/MARTIAN SURFACE USING POLYCRYSTALLINE DIAMOND COMPACT (PDC) BITS AND MONITORING AND ANALYSIS OF THE DRILLING PARAMETERS TO IDENTIFY THE MATERIAL BEING DRILLED THROUGH. THE PAST EXPERIENCE OF THE PIS IN THIS FIELD SHOWS THAT THE MATERIAL PROPERTIES SUCH AS STRENGTH OF THE MEDIUM CAN BE ESTIMATED WITH REASONABLE ACCURACY. PART OF THE PROPOSED TECHNOLOGY IS ALREADY AVAILABLE AND THE WORK TO BE COMPLETED INVOLVES DESIGN OF THE DRILL UNIT THAT COULD BE MOUNTED ON A TYPICAL ROVER FOR EXPLORATION PURPOSES. HOWEVER INSTEAD OF COLLECTING OF THE CORE SAMPLES FOR TESTING THE DRILL UNIT WILL CHARACTERIZE THE MATERIALS BY ANALYSIS OF DRILLING PARAMETERS. THE PROPOSED WORK INVOLVES STUDY OF PROPERTIES OF FROZEN REGOLITH BY PERFORMING VARIETY OF PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTY TESTS ON FROZEN SIMULANTS WITH VARIOUS WATER CONTENT AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES. THE RESULT OF TESTING WILL ALLOW FOR SELECTION OF ROCK TYPES OR DESIGN OF GROUTS THAT MIMICS THE PROPERTIES OF FROZEN SIMULANT/REGOLITH FOR DRILLING TESTS. THE DRILLING UNIT BITS AND DRILL STRING WILL BE DESIGNED TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS FOR OPERATION ON MOON/MARS. THIS WILL BE FOLLOWED BY FABRICATION OF THE DRILL AND INSTRUMENTATION WITH SENSORY DEVICES TO MONITOR/RECORD CRITICAL DRILLING PARAMETERS. THE SYSTEM AND ITS INSTRUMENTATION WILL BE CALIBRATED BEFORE TESTING AND WILL BE USED TO DRILL THROUGH VARIOUS FORMATIONS THAT MIMIC THE MATERIAL PROPERTIES OF THE FROZEN REGOLITH FOR TRAINING OF THE CHARACTERIZATION ALGORITHM. COLLECTED DATA WILL BE ANALYZED AND PROPER PATTERN RECOGNITION ALGORITHMS WILL BE DEVELOPED TO ALLOW FOR CLASSIFICATION OF VARIOUS FORMATION BASED ON DRILLING PARAMETERS AND SIGNATURE OF THE DRILL BEHAVIOR. THE INITIAL TESTING WILL BE FOLLOWED BY PREPARATION OF THE SAMPLES OF SIMULATED REGOLITH CONTAINING WATER (THROUGH VAPOR ABSORPTION) IN CRYOGENIC CONDITIONS TO OBSERVE THE ACTION OF THE DRILL IN THIS MATERIAL AND FOR TROUBLESHOOTING AS NEEDED. DATA COLLECTED IN A LAYERED SAMPLE THAT SIMULATES FROZEN REGOLITH WITH VARIOUS LEVELS OF MOISTURE CONTENT WILL BE USED TO VALIDATE THE ABILITY OF THE UNIT FOR CHARACTERIZING THE MATERIAL ON THE POLAR AND DARK SIDE OF THE MOON AS WELL AS FROZEN SURFACE OF THE MARS FOR WATER EXTRACTION. THE STUDY WILL ALSO INCLUDE THE USE PDC BITS AND WEAR RESISTANCE MATERIALS IN DESIGN OF THE OPTIMUM DRILL BIT PATTERN AND WILL BE SUPPORTED THROUGH US SYNTHETIC WHICH IS ONE OF THE PROMINENT PRODUCERS OF PDC PRODUCTS IN THE WORLD. INNOVATIONS IN THIS STUDY WILL INCLUDE THE COMBINATION OF PROPER DRILL BIT MATERIAL AND DESIGN DEVELOPING THE DESIGN FOR A DRILL UNIT CAPABLE OF OPERATING AT THE CONDITIONS ON THE MOON/MARS COUPLED WITH THE INTELLIGENT MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION PROGRAMS THAT CAN OFFER A REAL TIME EVALUATION OF THE FORMATIONS BEING DRILLED. THE RESULTS OF THE TESTING AND ANALYSIS WILL BE REFLECTED IN VARIOUS FORMS OF PUBLICATIONS INCLUDING JOURNAL AND CONFERENCE PAPERS AS WELL AS PERIODIC AND FINAL REPORT TO NASA.