The anchoring system of this proposal has applications for many of NASA's future robotic exploration programs, especially those involving sampling of planetary and small bodies such as asteroids and comets. It has uses such as: 1. Anchoring of a spacecraft to a small body; 2.Tool body preloading for core drilling and sampling in low gravity environments; 3. Anchoring safety tethers at a cliff or crater edge making a descent or traverse possible by a rover; 4. Anchoring instruments that are deployed and left to gather data. Robots and rovers are becoming more and more common in environments where human presence is not safe or possible. An autonomous rock anchor could be useful for 1) Robotic drilling and sampling systems for nuclear reactors or storage facilities 2) Anchoring safety tethers for commercial exploration 3) Robotic submersibles.