The Mars Helicopter will launch with NASA's Mars 2020 rover and should
arrive on the Red Planet in early 2021.
When the Mars 2020 rover lands on the Red Planet in early 2021, it
will carry with it a small helicopter, the first human craft to fly on
another planet. Until now, Mars has hosted orbiters, landers, and
rovers, but no flying machines. The Mars helicopter is meant only as a
technology demonstration. If it doesn't work, the Mars 2020 mission
will still succeed. If it does, it will have opened up entirely new
avenues for exploring other worlds.
While helicopters are old technology on Earth, flying one on Mars will
be challenging. Thanks to Mars' thin atmosphere, a helicopter flying
just above the surface is already at the equivalent of 100,000 feet
Earth altitude, far beyond where helicopters or even typical planes
fly. The altitude record for a helicopter on Earth is only 40,000
feet. And even consumer drones on Earth can struggle at high
altitudes.
So NASA engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory had to make a craft
that was both incredibly light and incredibly strong. They think
they've succeeded: the resulting chopper is only about the size of a
softball, and weighs 4 pounds. Its rotor blades will spin at 3,000
rpm, 10 times faster than most Earth choppers. The team has been
working on the project since 2013 as a technology demonstration,
though it wasn't approved for the Mars 2020 mission until May of 2018.
So NASA engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory had to make a craft
that was both incredibly light and incredibly strong. They think
they've succeeded: the resulting chopper is only about the size of a
softball, and weighs 4 pounds. Its rotor blades will spin at 3,000
rpm, 10 times faster than most Earth choppers. The team has been
working on the project since 2013 as a technology demonstration,
though it wasn't approved for the Mars 2020 mission until May of 2018.
Aside from the challenge of flight itself on the Red Planet, engineers
also had to figure out how the craft would navigate with
communications delays of at least a few minutes between Mars and
Earth. Engineers solve this problem with the rovers by taking careful
pictures of the terrain and then guiding the rover slowly toward its
goals, with many stops along the way to reassess any risks. But a
helicopter needs faster response times, being more likely to encounter
wind patterns and other obstacles that could knock it off course. And
of course, if the rover ever malfunctions and stops operating, it will
still be safely on the ground. The helicopter must have built-in
systems to safely land itself if it encounters any errors.
So the Mars Helicopter will be autonomous, flying itself on short
flights. It will receive commands and communicate via the rover, but
has its own solar powered batteries for power and a heater to keep it
warm on cold Martian nights.
Its mission will last for 30 days and include five flights. At first,
these will be simple hovering tests just 10 feet off the ground. It
will work up to longer flights lasting 90 seconds.
If the helicopter is successful, NASA hopes that future versions could
be used as scouting missions for other rovers, or to image regions
inaccessible to a wheeled explorer.
--
Good Clear Skies
--
Astrocomet
--
Colin James Watling
--
Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and
also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
--
Profile:
http://www.google.com/profiles/astrocomera
--
Real Astronomer and head of the Comet section for LYRA (Lowestoft and
Great Yarmouth Regional Astronomers) also head of K.A.G (Kessingland
Astronomy Group) and Navigator (Astrogator) of the Stars (Fieldwork)
--
Lyra Main Website:
http://www.lyra-astro.co.uk/
