Driving on the airfoil of Mars pretty much take in . Even though theOpportunity wanderer celebrated its 11th anniversaryon the Martian airfoil today , that robust little craft has alsoran into sly Baroness Dudevant dunesandother confusing surface anomalies . It certainly would be nice if some aerial reconnaissance could identified these potential snags before they happen .
Luckily , NASA has the same musical theme . Earlier this workweek , NASA spilled some details on a Martian scout whirlybird that would let rovers better understand their surround . They ’d also give scientist a bird ’s centre eyeshot what ’s around the rover and what might be worth nose and prodding a minuscule further .
The current design put this “ helicopter ” more in the drone family . Weighing only 2.2 lbs ( and will be almost three times light than that on Mars ) with a blade diameter of 3.6 foot . In a video recording publish by the Jet Propulsion Labs as part of its “ Crazy Engineering ” video serial publication , JPL Chief Engineer Bob Balaram describes some the engineering challenges with designing a rotor - based fomite for Mars ’ depressed - density atmosphere . The ‘ copter would need to be independent , lightweight , but also rugged enough to withstand Mars ’ harsh conditions .
The rover would be used very slenderly throughout the day . In fact , only once for about two to three minutes . But Balaram suppose that should be enough meter for the fomite to locomote about half a kilometer , which is much faster than Oppy ’s current 2 Admiralty mile - per - year speed .
Either way , Arnold Schwarzenegger should be stoked . Soon you ’ll be capable to “ get your ass to Mars ” and still “ get to the chopper . ” [ NASAviaMashable ]
effigy via NASA
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