The success of the Mars helicopter Ingenuity has shown that it is possible to explore other planets from the air. To fill in our knowledge of Mars between the rovers on the surface and the astronauts in space, researchers from the University of Arizona have proposed an experimental sailplane.
The first few kilometers above the ground is a critical piece of the planetary boundary layer, according to a research scientist in NASA. The exchanges between the surface and atmosphere take place here. This is where the dust is picked up and sent into the atmosphere, where trace gases are mixed, and where large-scale winds happen. We don't have a lot of information about it.
The idea is to fill this gap with a wind-powered sailplane that could glide through the air when there is enough wind and also use a technique called dynamic soaring when the vertical wind isn't strong enough to keep it in the air Similar to the way birds like albatrosses can soar on long journeys, the technique takes advantage of the way higher altitudes tend to have stronger winds, allowing a craft to continue flying.
The advantage of this method is that it doesn't rely on solar panels, which can get dusty, or nuclear batteries, which are heavy. The other technologies have been limited by energy. We want to use the energy in situ. It is a leap forward in those methods. How can you travel for free? To avoid using solar panels and relying on batteries that need to be charged, how can you use the wind that's there?
Small satellites called CubeSats could be used to release sailplanes into the air. The team has run a test of the concept on Earth using a balloon, and this summer they plan to perform more tests at high altitudes, where the air is thinner and is more similar to the atmosphere of Mars.
There is a paper in the journal.
There is a recommended video.
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