Solid Nitrogen Indentation Data at Triton Surface Conditions

This research was completed to support the Triton Hopper, a proposed NASA probe. Triton, a moon of Neptune, is thought to be a captured Kuiper belt object. The surface of Triton is observed to be primarily solidified nitrogen between 30K and 40K. Mechanical property date in this range data are limited to three known sources. Of interest to the Triton Hopper team are confined compression tests. To accomplish this a cryogenic flat punch indentation apparatus was developed. Samples were formed from 99.999% pure nitrogen gas which was liquified and cooled to solid via the system cryocooler. Force and displacement data of the solid nitrogen indentation were recorded at a fixed timestep. Runs without sample were recorded to allow removal of system hysteresis in post processing. All raw data and processing files are included, as well as the resultant plots. Further information can be obtained from the Data in Brief article entitled “Solid Nitrogen Indentation Data at Triton Surface Conditions.”