Soil Properties Assessment Resistance and Thermal Analysis (SPARTA)

Active TRL 7 (started at 4, targeting 7)

Description

Soil Properties Assessment, Resistance, and Thermal Analysis (SPARTA) is a versatile, miniature, multi-tool instrument designed to provide in situ measurements of regolith densities as well as geomechanical, thermal, electrical, and chemical properties of dry or icy soils and permafrost on planetary surfaces. The payload consists of a robotically deployed cone penetrometer/vaneshear geotech tool that incorporates dielectric probe and thermal conductivity measurements for planetary surfaces at depths of up to 20 cm. The technology is designed to be deployed by a rover’s arm or body, or from a lander’s footpad.

Benefits

SPARTA will address what was specifically called out in the 2020 LEAG report to: ”understand regolith densities with depth, cohesiveness, grain sizes, slopes, blockiness, association and effects of entrained volatiles.” These measurements are considered “enabling where trafficability is an issue. SPARTA measurements directly address these.

Future Customers
- In situ lunar missions such as NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services
- Data collection for fundamental science
- Ground truthing for NASA’s in situ resource utilization activities

Details

Technology area	Robotic Systems > Manipulation
Program	Flight Opportunities (FO)
Lead organization	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Start date	2021-02-01
End date	2026-12-31

Project contacts

Listed on TechPort itself — the most direct way to ask about this specific project.

Robert C Anderson — robert.c.anderson@jpl.nasa.gov
Keith B Chin — keith.b.chin@jpl.nasa.gov

How to get involved

This is a mature technology (TRL 7) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.