In exciting news for space fans, NASA have recently unveiled a rendering of a helicopter that they hope to send to Mars in the near future.
The design, known as Mars Chopper, looks small on the image, but in reality is around the size of an SUV.
In a statement from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Chopper was noted as having six rotors, each of which has six blades, allowing for added propulsion and control.
Though it is early in its design phase, the Mars Chopper concept is hoped to be the future of helicopter transit on Mars. When operational, the helicopter could carry as much as 5 kilograms and would travel just under two miles per Martian day.
The helicopter, which has been designed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Ames Research Center, and AeroVironment Inc., will aid space scientists to study Mars’s fascinating terrain with increased efficiency.
When fully realised, the Mars Chopper will be a worthy successor to NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which as been traversing our neighboring planet since 2021.
In fact, this little helicopter has completed 72 flights since it arrived on board the Perseverance Rover, providing scientists with valuable insight into the Martian landscape.
According to NASA, this early helicopter has flown for almost 130 minutes, exploring 17 kilometers of Martian terrain and flying up to 24 meters in the air. Its impressive capability to fly successfully in Mars’s unique atmosphere has allowed researchers to explore the area around the Perseverance Rover, highlighting areas of interest for the Rover to be directed to.
The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was, of course, the first aircraft to fly on another planet.
But after all these years of hard work, it is about time that Ingenuity is given a little help: and the Mars Chopper will do just that, upgrading NASA’s capacity to fly over Mars, whilst also bearing vital loads of scientific equipment.
The Mars Chopper will take our understanding of our neighboring planet to a whole new level.
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