Industrial Centre - The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

A European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft, carrying a rock sampling tool jointly developed by a local dentist and leading engineers of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has been launched in 3 June 2003 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

If the mission goes as planned and the spacecraft’s Lander “Beagle 2” lands on Mars in late December 2003, this sophisticated space tool will become the first Chinese made instrument to touch the soil of a planet outside the Earth.

The PolyU-made sampling tool, known as the Mars Rock Corer, is considered the most important tool to help unlock the mystery of exobiology on the planet as it will be the first ever tool to drill into the surface of Mars.

The project is the joint effort of a 12 member team led by five Principal Investigators, Dr Ng Tze-chuen, a dentist and a University Fellow of PolyU, Prof.Yung Kai-leung, Dr Chris Wong Ho-ching and Mr Yu Chun-ho of The Industrial Centre of PolyU; and Mr Chan Chiu-cheung, an independent engineer. The Corer was produced by skilled engineering staff using state-of-the-art facilities at the PolyU Industrial Centre. Prof. Yang Chen-ning, Nobel Laureate in Physics, is the Scientific Advisor of the project.

The development of the Mars Rock Corer and its predecessor the Space Holinser Forceps has come a long way. The Holinser Forceps, originated from a pair of dental forceps, were developed by PolyU engineers from a concept initiated by Dr Ng. The idea was developed into the Space Forceps System which consists of 70 inter-connectable components for used by astronauts in Space. In 1995, four sets of Holinser Forceps were ordered by the Russian Space Agency for use by astronauts in precision soldering at the then MIR Space Station.

Following their initial success, the team further ventured into interplanetary sampling and developed the multi-functional Mars Rock Corer which can grind, drill, core and grip rock samples, with energy consumption as low as two watts and weighs 370 grams only – much lighter and energy-efficient than other similar instruments.

The device has cleverly integrated characteristics of Chinese chopsticks into the design for effective retrieval of samples from inside of rocks. The device has eventually been accepted by the ESA, leading to Hong Kong’s involvement in the Mars Express Mission.

The Mars Express Mission comprises a number of essential components including an orbiter and the Beagle 2 Lander – where the Mars Rock Corer and other scientific instruments are installed. The orbiter will deploy the Lander on the Martian surface and stay in its orbit for sub-surface water search. The Lander will then serve as a relay station for a series of remote sensing experiments to shed new light on the Martian atmosphere and its geology. As a main task of the Mars Express Mission is to search for signs of life in the rocks of the planet, the Mars Rock Corer could therefore become the first instrument to encounter life on a planet outside the Earth.

For more information about the Mars Express Mission, the Beagle 2 Lander and the Mars Rock Corer, please visit the website of ESA at www.sci.esa.int, www.beagle2.com, BBC News item and www.hkmars.net.

The Holinser Forceps and Micro End-effectors

Evolution of the Concept

The Space Holinser Forceps evolved out of an R&D collaboration between the Industrial Centre, a dentist, and a staff member from the Department of Manufacturing Engineering. In 1994 dentist Dr. T.C. Ng and the engineers at PolyU developed the typical surgical precision tweezers design into space equipment for use by astronauts. Such an innovative idea greatly impressed the space agencies of U.S.A, Russia and Europe.

In 1995 encouraging responses were received, including an order from P.K.A. (Russia) for four sets of Holinser Forceps for precision soldering aboard MIR Space Station - and subsequently used on the space station in December of the same year.

The First Award
The Space Holinser Forceps are the first and only space equipment designed and manufactured on Chinese soil and used by astronauts on a space station. Their achievement and success were widely reported. The Forceps were further honoured by the conferment of a "Certificate of Merit in Consumer Product Design, 1997 Hong Kong Awards for Industry" by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries.

Encouraging comments were also received from NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), while furtherinvestigations have prompted the interest of space agencies around the world, raising the prospect of future application in the Space Lab programme. In 1998 ESA invited the team to participate inthe 2003 Mars Express Mission to produce Micro End-effectors for the "Beagle 2" Lander. If "Beagle 2" successfully lands on Mars in late December 2003 as scheduled it will be the first time in history for Hong Kong designed-and-made instruments to touch the soil of a planet outside the Earth.

The Hon. Tung Chee-hwa, HKSAR Chief Executive,
meeting with the researchers in May to discuss the space project.

This significant development was also welcomed by the HKSAR Chief Executive, The Hon. Tung Chee-hwa, who expressed great interest in the project during his meeting with the researchers in May. On 16th September 2000, the world famous broadcasting company, BBC, sent a film crew to the Industrial Centre to report on the project, and the space equipment in particular.

Recent Award

The Holinser Forceps and Micro End-effectors were selected as one of the candidates in "The Election of Ten Engineering Wonders in Hong Kong", jointly organised by The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers and Hong Kong Science Museum, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, in August 2000. The space project won "The Most Innovative Award", notwithstanding the minute resources invested in it compared with all the other multi-million or even multi-billion dollar candidates. The space project consolidates our foundation in the design and manufacture of space equipment and has proved to the world that Hong Kong engineers are capable of designing and manufacturing space equipment of international acclaim.

In December 2001, the project received the Gold Medal award in the Aviation Industry category at the EUREKA International Inventions Expo in Brussels. Our “MARS ROCK CORER - the most critical tool to unlock the mystery of exobiology in our solar system” was among six hundred entries from over fifty countries.