NASA planning Mars Helicopter to assist future rovers

Image: NASA

The amount of data and stunning imagery being delivered by NASA's Curiosity rover has given us new insight into Mars, but a new concept vehicle for future missions could dramatically increase our knowledge of the red planet.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has unveiled a concept drone called the Mars Helicopter that would accompany future Mars rovers and act as an aerial drone to assist the rover's research mission.

As conceived, the drone would fly daily advanced reconnaissance missions to help the rover explore the planet more efficiently by picking the best sites for research based on aerial data.

"[T]here is the challenge of the very low density of the atmosphere," said JPL chief engineer Bob Balaram in a NASA video explaining the difficulties such a vehicle might face on Mars. "There's the challenge of keeping the whole mass of the system small so that we don't overwhelm the lift capability of this system."

Weighing 2.2 pounds with a diameter of 3.6 feet, the Mars Helicopter would be visually comparable in design to some consumer-grade drones, but would likely be equipped with far more advanced equipment to allow it to communicate with the rover. Additionally, the drone would have a top-mounted solar panel, allowing it to charge itself as it travels over the surface of the planet.

No firm date has been set for addition of the drone to NASA's future Mars missions, but the JPL team continues to put the idea through rigorous testing.

"[O]ver the course of the last year we have done a number of tests in our 25-foot vacuum chamber using scale models where we pump down to Mars densities, demonstrating lift of these kinds of blades," said Balaram. "Because this thing is going to take off every day and land every day, we want to make sure we have a bulletproof landing system, and landing is the riskiest part of any mission."