The Perseverance rover is busy collecting rock samples and caching them for future use. As time goes on, we learn more about the Mars sample return mission.
Helicopters are the newest development. NASA decided that the sample return mission would take two helicopter.
A small helicopter named Ingenuity was on the Perseverance rover when it landed on Mars. The first powered, controlled extraterrestrial flight by an aircraft took place. The first un powered flight was a Soviet balloon flight on Venus.
Ingenuity achieved all of its goals. Initially, it was supposed to perform five flights in 30 days. The 33rd flight took place on September 24th, 2022, 18 months after the landing on Mars.
The eventual Mars sample return mission will be carried out by NASA and the European Space Agency. The mission is still being developed, and now it appears that the agencies will send two choppers.
For a long time, we knew about this development. Bob Balaram, the Chief Engineer of the Ingenuity Project, explains more about the advantages of helicopter exploration in a new post. The Ingenuity helicopter was guided through its first year of operations by Balaram.
The Wright Brothers' famous flight in North Carolina in 1903 was compared by Balaram. In December 1903, it was very much like this today. It was the Wright Brothers moment, a short flight rising a few meters into the sky, hovering briefly in the thin air, making a turn, and descending to land. One flight ushered in aerial mobility for exploration of Mars. Ingenuity took a small piece of the Wright Flyer to Mars.
The original plan was for Ingenuity to be on Mars for 30 days. NASA wants to build on the success of that success. There will be some key differences between the two future choppers. They won't be there to test technology, but they will do their job.
If needed, the Sample Recovery Helicopters, with wheels instead of feet, and a small manipulator arm, will carry precious sample tubes from a sample cache depot back to the Mars ascent vehicle.
The Mars rovers are some of the best in the world. Human capabilities are demonstrated by their performance on Mars. Helicopters are used to explore to the next level.
The 4Rs of exploration are reach, range, resolution and robotic. Mars helicopters are able to reach places that other forms of mobility can't. Ingenuity demonstrated that they can fly over terrain that is difficult to navigate by a wheeled rover.
Helicopters can greatly improve the reach of exploration by rovers, and it might be hard to imagine future rover missions to the planet without them. The helicopter can act as a route finder. Areas can be examined for sampling desirability. They can even explore lava tubes.
The surface of Mars can be explored by helicopter. Engineers are very careful about where they land rovers because of the so-called Mars Curse. Helicopters could land in other places. Entry capsule carrying a helicopter can be used to reach the highlands of Mars because of their low weight. We can have true global access to the red planet for the first time.
The range of Ingenuity was very small. Increasing its range wasn't a priority as a test vehicle Future Marscopters could have a bigger range. Future larger helicopters could have the endurance to allow 10's of km per sol traverses, even though Ingenuity was limited to a flight capability of 1 km per sol. It's possible to explore a wide area on Mars with that kind of capability. Helicopters could be used for exploration. One day, the planet's ice caps could be reached.
The image resolution will be improved by helicopter. Almost the entire surface of Mars has been imaged by the MRO. It has led to a lot of discoveries on Mars. A less sophisticated camera on a helicopter can image the surface of Mars with a higher resolution than any other orbiter. And for a lot less.
The fourth R isRobotics. Increased robotic technology on a Mars helicopter will mean greater mobility. For example, if NASA ever develops a helicopter that can explore lava tubes, the robot will have to be up to the job. Fine control is needed for that type of exploration due to the delay in communication between Earth and Mars.
The ability to fly, drive, and manipulate with a robot hand can enable much more than sample tube retrieving.
Engineers are working on a more advanced craft for future exploration. A Mars Science Helicopter with the ability to carry almost 5 kilogrammes of science is in the early stages of design.
The authors of the NASA white paper explained how a future MSH would work.
Two possible designs for the MSH are outlined in the white paper. The Mars Helicopter Technology Design is the basis of the coaxial. The hexacopter has a bigger weight than the MHTD. The range is the same, 10 km, but the hexacopter can carry more cargo than the other one.
There are key science objectives that can be unique to Mars.
Specific locations where the MSH could meet the scientific objectives are identified in the white paper. Each mission concept has a different instrument. They are called Clays and Astrobiology. Readers of Universe Today are familiar with these objectives.
Sampling arms and microdrills are among the instruments.
White papers give a glimpse into the thinking that goes into mission designs. Helicopters will be a mainstay of Mars missions according to the authors. The paper says that the vehicle is sufficiently low-mass and low-volume that it should be considered in future launches. All possibilities should be looked at.
This is a great time to explore Mars. It is difficult to say what effect the helicopter will have in the future. One day a Mars mission will have a stationary home base.
We won't send rovers to Mars in the future.
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