T. Szwarc

About

T. Szwarc is a planetary exploration engineer whose work focuses on the development of innovative drilling and sample acquisition technologies for robotic missions. Their key research areas include low-mass, low-power drilling systems, heat flow probe emplacement, and sample caching architectures for Mars and lunar exploration. Szwarc made major contributions to the design and testing of the Axel rover's NanoDrill and PowderDrill, enabling the acquisition of cores, regolith, and powder from steep-walled terrains like craters and cliffs—a capability critical for accessing otherwise unreachable scientific targets. Their 2013 paper on pneumatic and percussive penetration for heat flow probes (21 citations) advanced methods for subsurface thermal measurements on the Moon. Additionally, Szwarc contributed to the Mars Sample Return (MSR) Sample Acquisition and Caching architecture study, addressing 26 NASA requirements across three rover platforms (MER, MER+, MSL) to reduce mission risk. With a portfolio of highly cited works, Szwarc’s engineering innovations directly support future robotic missions aimed at understanding planetary geology and habitability.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Pneumatic and Percussive Penetration Approaches for Heat Flow Probe Emplacement on Robotic Lunar Missions

   21 citations · 2013
2. 2
   Axel rover NanoDrill and PowderDrill: Acquisition of cores, regolith and powder from steep walls

   9 citations · 2013
3. 3
   Sample Acquisition and Caching architecture for the Mars Sample Return mission

   5 citations · 2013

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links