PlanetVac, TRIDENT and TAGSAM: compare the mechanisms

Explore gas-driven collection on the Moon and on asteroid Bennu, and drilling. Choose steps and open 3D independently in each example.

The models explain intended functions. Their motion, dimensions and apparent speeds are illustrative; they are not a performance comparison or a replay of flight operations. Read each reported result and its limits below.

Jump to PlanetVac · PlanetVac result · TRIDENT · TRIDENT result · TAGSAM · TAGSAM result

PlanetVac

Explore a generic PlanetVac collection schematic: gas mobilizes soil, a hose transfers grains, and a collection system receives them.

Illustrative, not to scale. Generic collection schematic. Shapes, positions, routing and motion are illustrative, without a physical scale. The hose is transparent here to expose the illustrative grain path; the collection block stays opaque. This is not a reconstruction of the flight installation.

The diagram and all explanations work without 3D.

Read the steps below to follow the intended function.

Component descriptions are below.

Motion is illustrative; speeds, particle amounts and travel are not measurements. In 3D: drag to rotate; on touch screens, use two fingers to rotate and zoom, one to scroll the page. Mouse wheel scrolls the page.

Intended function — not a flight replay

Supply gas
Release gas from the supply into the sampling system.
Sources: NASA: From Flight Test to the Moon — Three Payloads · Lunar PlanetVac flight report (2026)
Mobilize grains
Gas jets inside the sampling head loft and sweep surface grains toward the transfer path.
Sources: Lunar PlanetVac flight report (2026)
Transfer through a hose
The grains travel along the pneumatic hose. Moving dots represent a path, not a measured flow or quantity.
Sources: NASA: From Flight Test to the Moon — Three Payloads
Reach the collection system
The path ends at the collection system. Sorting is reported separately below; this schematic does not show its internals.
Sources: NASA: From Flight Test to the Moon — Three Payloads

What was reported on the Moon

NASA reports that Lunar PlanetVac collected, transferred and sorted lunar soil on Blue Ghost Mission 1. This was sample collection, not demonstrated water or oxygen extraction or commercial resource production.

Sources: NASA: From Flight Test to the Moon — Three Payloads

Limits of the result. The 2026 flight paper reports a non-optimal sampling-head deployment. The illustrative schematic does not reconstruct that deployment.

Sources: Lunar PlanetVac flight report (2026)

collected, transferred, and sorted lunar soil

Sources: NASA: From Flight Test to the Moon — Three Payloads

What each part does

Gas supply: A pressurized gas supply provides the working fluid that moves the grains. Sources: NASA: From Flight Test to the Moon — Three Payloads · Lunar PlanetVac flight report (2026)
Sampling head: Gas inside the head mobilizes the surface grains. Nozzle positions and the head's pose here are schematic. Sources: Lunar PlanetVac flight report (2026)
Transfer hose: The pneumatic transfer path carries mobilized grains toward the collection system. The route shown is illustrative. Sources: NASA: From Flight Test to the Moon — Three Payloads
Collection system: The illustrated path ends at this opaque block. Its internal sorting mechanism is not depicted. Sources: NASA: From Flight Test to the Moon — Three Payloads

What the schematic leaves out

Dimensions, nozzle layout, flight hose routing, operating pressures and collection-system internals are not established by this schematic. Inspect the sources for the experiment, and the linked mission record for its recorded outcome.

Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 (Ghost Riders in the Sky) · Open PlanetVac on its own · Explore TRIDENT · Explore TAGSAM · How MOXIE made oxygen · Compare what each demonstrated

Sources behind this explanation

Source-based explanation; viewing it does not recheck or change the mission record.

TRIDENT

Explore TRIDENT's designed rotation, hammering and extension, alongside NASA's report of what worked on the shortened PRIME-1 mission.

Illustrative, not to scale. Intended-function schematic for TRIDENT in PRIME-1 on IM-2. Shapes, positions and motion are illustrative. A transparent drive housing exposes the orange hammering marker; this is not its actual internal layout. It does not replay achieved drilling or reconstruct the tipped lander.

The diagram and all explanations work without 3D.

Read the steps below to follow the intended function.

Component descriptions are below.

Intended function — not a flight replay

Extend toward a sampling position
The intended sequence brings the drill toward the surface. The schematic's travel has no depth scale.
Sources: NASA: Lunar Drill Technology Passes Tests on the Moon
Rotate and hammer
Rotation and percussion are distinct drilling motions. The view exaggerates both so their difference is visible.
Sources: NASA: Lunar Drill Technology Passes Tests on the Moon
Intended surface cuttings
The design intended to deliver drill cuttings to the surface for analysis. Do not read this step as an achieved drilled-sample result.
Sources: NASA: Lunar Drill Technology Passes Tests on the Moon
Analyze nearby gases
MSOLO is a separate gas-analysis instrument. Its reported scans are described below; no lunar-water result is animated here.
Sources: NASA: Lunar Drill Technology Passes Tests on the Moon · NASA: PRIME-1 on IM-2

Movements worked; the mission goals were not accomplished

NASA reports auger rotation, full-range extension, percussion, heater operation and temperature sensing during the shortened mission after Athena rested on its side. The PRIME-1 overview says the instruments did not accomplish their science, exploration and technology goals. Individual movements do not establish successful drilled-sample acquisition.

Sources: NASA: Lunar Drill Technology Passes Tests on the Moon · NASA: PRIME-1 on IM-2

Limits of the result. MSOLO scanned gases; NASA's initial interpretation attributed them to human sources. These reports do not establish indigenous lunar water detection. Heater and sensor locations are shown only as a callout, and no bore depth is claimed.

Sources: NASA: Lunar Drill Technology Passes Tests on the Moon

anthropogenic, or human in origin

Sources: NASA: Lunar Drill Technology Passes Tests on the Moon

What each part does

Rotary and percussive drive: Rotation turns the auger; percussion adds a hammering action. The actuator arrangement is illustrative. Sources: NASA: Lunar Drill Technology Passes Tests on the Moon
Auger and extension: The auger can extend toward a sampling position. Extension travel and tool length do not establish a lunar bore depth. Sources: NASA: Lunar Drill Technology Passes Tests on the Moon
Heater and thermal sensors: NASA reports an embedded core heater and internal thermal sensors. This callout does not claim their exact positions. Sources: NASA: Lunar Drill Technology Passes Tests on the Moon
MSOLO (separate instrument): MSOLO measures nearby gas composition. There is no solid-sample pipe from the drill to this schematic instrument. Sources: NASA: Lunar Drill Technology Passes Tests on the Moon · NASA: PRIME-1 on IM-2

What the schematic leaves out

This example covers PRIME-1's TRIDENT, not every drill or VIPER. Actual actuator layout, extension mechanics, heater and sensor locations, motion rates and sample-release geometry are not reconstructed.

PRIME-1 (Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1) · Open TRIDENT on its own · Explore PlanetVac · Explore TAGSAM · How MOXIE made oxygen · Compare what each demonstrated

Sources behind this explanation

Source-based explanation; viewing it does not recheck or change the mission record.

TAGSAM

Explore a generic TAGSAM schematic: an arm holds a round head to the surface, a burst of nitrogen lofts material into it, and the spacecraft backs away.

Illustrative, not to scale. Generic schematic of OSIRIS-REx's Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism. Shapes, positions, proportions and motion are illustrative, without a physical scale. This is not a reconstruction of the flight hardware.

The diagram and all explanations work without 3D.

Read the steps below to follow the intended function.

Component descriptions are below.

Intended function — not a flight replay

Hold the head out
The arm extends, flexing at its shoulder, elbow and wrist, to hold the head out from the spacecraft before contact.
Sources: The OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft and the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) (2018) · NASA: TAGSAM Testing Complete: OSIRIS-REx Prepared to TAG an Asteroid
Touch the surface
The head meets the ground and the pads on its rim touch it. Sensors that declare contact start the gas release.
Sources: The OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft and the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) (2018)
Release nitrogen
Gas from one bottle flows down a feed line to the head and into the ground. Moving dots represent the idea, not a measured flow.
Sources: The OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft and the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) (2018) · NASA: TAGSAM Testing Complete: OSIRIS-REx Prepared to TAG an Asteroid
Catch material and back away
Like wind blowing sand, the gas carries loose material up into the head, where the screen lets the gas out. About five seconds after the gas release, the spacecraft backs away.
Sources: The OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft and the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) (2018) · NASA: TAGSAM Testing Complete: OSIRIS-REx Prepared to TAG an Asteroid

What happened at Bennu

On 20 October 2020 the head touched Bennu at about 10 cm per second; the gas fired after about 1 second of contact, and the spacecraft began backing away after about 6 seconds. Images indicated that rocks held the head's Mylar flap open and material was escaping, so NASA sped up stowage; the arm placed the head in the return capsule by the evening of 27 October. NASA reports 121.6 grams of Bennu material delivered to Earth on 24 September 2023. This was sample collection for science, not resource extraction.

Sources: Near-zero cohesion and loose packing of Bennu's near subsurface revealed by spacecraft contact (2022) · NASA: OSIRIS-REx Goes for Early Stow of Asteroid Sample · NASA: OSIRIS-REx Successfully Stows Sample of Asteroid Bennu · NASA: OSIRIS-REx Bulk Sample Mass

Limits of the result. The ground gave way more than the design expected: the head had sunk about 6 to 7 cm before the gas fired, and NASA says the spacecraft would have sunk into Bennu had it not fired its thrusters to back away. The schematic shows the designed sequence, not that response.

Sources: Near-zero cohesion and loose packing of Bennu's near subsurface revealed by spacecraft contact (2022) · NASA: Asteroid Bennu Reveals Its Surface Is Like a Plastic Ball Pit

Like wind blowing sand, the gas mobilizes surface material, carrying it into the collection volume.

Sources: The OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft and the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) (2018)

What each part does

Arm: An articulated arm with a shoulder, an elbow at half its length and a wrist holds the head away from the spacecraft; NASA gives its length as 3.35 m (11 ft). A spring in it was designed to soften contact; at Bennu it was never compressed. Sources: The OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft and the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) (2018) · NASA: TAGSAM Testing Complete: OSIRIS-REx Prepared to TAG an Asteroid · Near-zero cohesion and loose packing of Bennu's near subsurface revealed by spacecraft contact (2022)
Nitrogen bottles: Three high-pressure nitrogen bottles, released separately, allowed up to three sampling attempts. A 2022 study says they were attached to the arm between the spacecraft and the head; their exact place here is illustrative. Sources: The OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft and the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) (2018) · Near-zero cohesion and loose packing of Bennu's near subsurface revealed by spacecraft contact (2022)
Sampler head: A round head about 30 cm wide, shaped like a brimmed hat: gas enters the ground through an opening at the brim, and a screen around the collection chamber lets the gas out while keeping the material in. Sources: The OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft and the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) (2018) · NASA: TAGSAM Testing Complete: OSIRIS-REx Prepared to TAG an Asteroid · NASA APOD: Tagging Bennu (2020)
Contact pads: Twenty-four pads of metal Velcro around the rim of the contact surface were designed to collect material they touched. Sources: The OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft and the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) (2018)

What the schematic leaves out

Arm segment lengths, joint ranges, the head's height, where the bottles sit, the flap's shape and the pads' size are not established by this schematic. Inspect the sources for the design, and the linked mission record for its recorded outcome.

OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer) · Open TAGSAM on its own · Explore PlanetVac · Explore TRIDENT · Bennu's sample site before and after, in 3D · How MOXIE made oxygen · Compare what each demonstrated

Sources behind this explanation

Source-based explanation; viewing it does not recheck or change the mission record.