Drilling Scrapbook, June/July , 1998.

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DRILLEX - The Drilling Experiment at Haughton Crater

   A drilling experiment was part of series of research programs included in the Haughton-Mars 98 project conducted at the Haughton Impact Crater during June-July 1998. The experiment is designed with two major objectives in mind; drill into and obtain continuous core samples of various rock units within the crater to recover a history of the post-impact geologic record and evaluate drilling technology for similar applications on Mars.

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*All photos taken by the HMP Webmaster, David Reyes.
John Schutt setting up the portable drill rig.
A sunny day drilling on the lake sediments.
John clears collapsing mud from the drill hole.
Drilling recommences after digging out stuck drill stem.
*** Dave digs stem goes here,1/4/99 ***
David Reyes digging out a stuck segment of auger stem.
John primes the drill rig motor.
Cleaning off the drill stem after core recovery.
Looking for trouble. John uses a headlamp from an ATV to see down the hole.
Decoupled auger stem stuck in the hole (ring shaped object is the top of a 5 foot long section of auger stem). John and David successfully improvise a contraption which reattaches the drive shaft to the auger stem.
George Dunfield and Dr. Edmond Grin package recovered core while John takes notes.
A close-up view of a core sample. Note layering of mud and ice shown in this permafrost sample of paleolake sediments.
Packaged core sitting on top of cooler. Core was transported back to camp in an ice chest to keep the core permafrost core from melting. Ice chest sits inside a small wagon attached to John's ATV.
George and John drilling.
John heats fluid to help free stuck auger stem. Later John, George, David and Dr. Jim Rice successfully muscle the stuck stem from the frozen ground.