HP3 Heat Probe Hammering Mechanism (NASA InSight)
Description
Astronika is a Polish space engineering company specializing in miniaturized space mechanisms including penetrators, deployable booms, and hammering systems. For NASA's InSight Mars lander (launched May 2018, landed November 2018), Astronika designed and manufactured the hammering mechanism within the HP3 (Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package) instrument — also called the "Mole." The Mole was a self-hammering penetrator designed to drill up to 5 metres into Martian soil while trailing a scientific tether measuring subsurface temperatures. Astronika built the precision internal spring-loaded hammering mechanism that drove the Mole downward using repeated impacts. Although the HP3 mole encountered unexpectedly hard Martian regolith and was ultimately retired without reaching full depth, the hammering mechanism itself performed as designed. Astronika also manufactured the KRET boom deployable mechanism (for plasma wave measurements) and provided hardware for several ESA and JAXA missions.