Rapid Laboratory Investigation of the Thermal Properties of Planetary Analogues by Using the Extase Thermal Probe

The thermal properties of the constituent materials of the upper meters of planets and planetary bodies are of extreme interest. During the design and the verification of various planetary missions, the need to model and test appropriate simulants in laboratory is often raised. To verify the thermal properties of deployed laboratory simulants, the EXTASE thermal probe is a fast, precise, and easy-to-use tool. EXTASE is a thermal profile probe, able to measure the temperature and inject heat into the selected material at 16 different locations along its 45cm long slender cylindrical body. It has been developed following the experience of MUPUS, with the purpose of observing such properties on Earth, in situ and in a short time. We have used EXTASE, under laboratory cold and standard conditions, on several sand mixtures, soils, granular and compact ices, under vacuum and at normal pressure levels, to collect a great number of time- and depth-dependent temperature curves that represent the thermal dynamical response of the material. At the same time, two independent models have been developed to verify the experimental results by reaching the same results with a simulation of the same process. The models, analytical and numerical, which account for all material parameters (conductivity, density, capacity), have been developed and fine tuned until their results are superposed to the experimental curves, thus allowing the determination of the distinct thermal properties. In addition, a test campaign is under planning to use EXTASE to determine, rapidly and efficiently, the thermal properties of various regolith simulants to be used in the simulation of planetary subsurface processes