PlanetVac: Planetary Surface Sampling Vacuum Chamber Demonstration

Honeybee Robotics' PlanetVac, made possible by The Planetary Society, is a new way of doing one of the hardest yet most valuable things in planetary exploration: sampling a planetary surface -- gathering planetary dirt -- and then transferring that dirt to a science instrument or sample return capsule. This video documents the first test of a complete prototype PlanetVac system, done in a vacuum chamber at Mars-like pressures. PlanetVac, which stands for Planetary Vacuum, is a concept that effectively vacuums up planetary regolith (the dirt overlying bedrock) for quick and reliable surface sampling.