NASA's next big Mars rover will include a helicopter designed to work in Mars's thin atmosphere:
When NASA launches its next rover to Mars, the vehicle will have a small helicopter along for the ride. NASA announced today that it will be sending a small autonomous flying chopper — aptly named the Mars Helicopter — with the upcoming Mars 2020 rover. The helicopter will attempt to fly through the Martian air to see if vehicles can even levitate on Mars, where the atmosphere is 100 times thinner than that of Earth.
The design for the Mars Helicopter has been in the works for the last four years at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, but the space agency had yet to decide if it was actually going to send the vehicle to Mars. NASA needed to determine if this technology was actually feasible and if the agency had enough money in its budget to include the copter, according to Spaceflight Now. Now it seems that the agency has decided that this copter idea could actually work.
One much better place in the solar system for a flying vehicle is Titan, which has lower surface gravity and a denser atmosphere than Earth.
Related: Titan Ripe for Drone Invasion
NASA New Frontiers Finalists: Comet 67P Sample Return and a Titan Drone
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With its dense and hydrocarbon-rich atmosphere, Titan has been a subject of interest for many decades. And with the success of the Cassini-Huygens mission, which began exploring Saturn and its system of moons back in 2004, there are many proposals on the table for follow-up missions that would explore the surface of Titan and its methane seas in greater depth.
The challenges that this presents have led to some rather novel ideas, ranging from balloons and landers to floating drones and submarines. But it is the proposal for a "Dragonfly" drone by researchers at NASA's JHUAPL that seems particularly adventurous. This eight-bladed drone would be capable of vertical-takeoff and landing (VTOL), enabling it to explore both the atmosphere and the surface of Titan in the coming decades.
The mission concept was proposed by a science team led by Elizabeth Turtle, a planetary scientist from NASA's Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL). Back in February, the concept was presented at the "Planetary Science Vision 2050 Workshop" – which took place at NASA's headquarters in Washington, DC – and again in late March at the 48th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, Texas.
One advantage of flying in a methane atmosphere is you don't have to cart a lot of heavy fuel with you.
NASA has selected two finalists for the fourth New Frontiers mission: a spacecraft that would retrieve a sample from 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, and a drone that would explore multiple locations on Saturn's moon Titan:
In the first proposed mission, Comet Astrobiology Exploration Sample Return, or Caesar, a spacecraft would go to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, previously explored by the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission, and bring back a small chunk to Earth for closer study.
In the second mission, named Dragonfly, a robotic drone would be sent to Titan, Saturn's largest moon, which has a seas of hydrocarbons. The drone would be able to fly from one location to another and to perform detailed explorations of various terrains.
[...] Each team now will get $4 million and about one year to flesh out its idea. NASA will decide in mid-2019 which one of the two to build. The selected mission is to launch by the end of 2025.
The CAESAR mission to 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko would scoop up 100 grams of material and return it to Earth... by 2038. CAESAR would be aided by Rosetta's precise measurements of the comet. The Dragonfly mission would make most of its observations on the ground of Titan, but would be able to fly hundreds of kilometers through Titan's atmosphere to land repeatedly. Flight on Titan is significantly easier than on Earth due to its 1.45 (Earth) atmospheres of pressure and 0.14g surface gravity.
The Enceladus Life Signatures and Habitability (ELSAH) and Venus In Situ Composition Investigations (VICI) concepts will also receive funding for technology development.
The previous New Frontiers missions were:
- The New Horizons flyby mission to Pluto, launched on January 19, 2006, which is currently en route to 2014 MU69.
- The Juno mission to Jupiter, launched on August 5, 2011. Perijove 10 (9th science flyby) was on December 16, and Perijove 11 will occur on February 7, 2018.
- The OSIRIS-REx mission, launched on September 8, 2016, which will arrive at the 0.5 km asteroid 101955 Bennu in August 2018 and return a sample to Earth by 2023.
Also at NASA, The Verge and Air & Space.
As Previously Covered the NASA's Mars 2020 Rover mission will include a helicopter drone designed to work in the thin Martian atmosphere. Testing of the copter has now entered its final phase.
While the Mars Copter is just a technology demonstrator and will carry no science instruments, it will have an onboard high resolution camera and will be controlled from Earth with communications relayed through the Rover at a rate of 250kb/s at distances up to 1000 meters.
"We expect to complete our final tests and refinements and deliver the helicopter to the High Bay 1 clean room for integration with the rover sometime this summer," said Aung, "but we will never really be done with testing the helicopter until we fly at Mars."
The Mars Helicopter will launch with the Mars 2020 rover on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in July 2020 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. When it lands in Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021, the rover will also be the first spacecraft in the history of planetary exploration with the ability to accurately retarget its point of touchdown during the landing sequence.
The 4 lb (1.8 kg) Linux based drone has a body about the size of a softball. It will be run on lithium-ion batteries charged via solar panels and is constructed of lightweight materials - carbon fiber, aircraft aluminum, silicon, copper, foil, and aerogel.
The helicopter's twin blades will whirl at about 10 times the rate of a helicopter's blades on Earth — at 3,000 rpm — to stay aloft in Mars' thin atmosphere.
The demonstrator is expected to make as many as five flights before being retired.
Mars-bound spaceship experiencing technical issues: NASA:
Mars 2020, the spaceship carrying NASA's new rover Perseverance to the Red Planet, is experiencing technical difficulties and is running on essential systems only, the agency said Thursday.
"Data indicate the spacecraft had entered a state known as safe mode, likely because a part of the spacecraft was a little colder than expected while Mars 2020 was in Earth's shadow," NASA said.
The spaceship has left Earth's shadow and the temperatures are now normal.
[...] Matt Wallace, the mission's deputy project manager, said that the fact that the spaceship had entered safe mode was not overly concerning.
"That's perfectly fine, the spacecraft is happy there," he said. "The team is working through that telemetry, they're going to look through the rest of the spacecraft health. "So far, everything I've seen looks good, so we'll know more in a little bit."
Related:
Perseverance, Ingenuity begin seven month journey to Mars
Atlas 5 launches Mars 2020 mission
Previously:
Mars 2020 Rover to Include a Mars Helicopter
Mars Helicopter Enters Final Testing
Mars Mission Readies Tiny Chopper for Red Planet Flight
NASA Reveals the New Wavy Martian Wheels it Thinks Can Crush the Red Planet
Three Missions to Mars Happening this Month
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 13 2018, @06:40PM (8 children)
Land Rovers, Helicopters, Yachts, all toys for billionaire playboy scum.
The poor will inherit the Earth after Elong Musky takes all the rich people with him when he leaves.
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Sunday May 13 2018, @06:57PM (7 children)
You've got it wrong. Poor folks can be an asset on Mars too:
Elon Musk: First humans who journey to Mars must 'be prepared to die' - 'It would be an incredible adventure' [theverge.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by frojack on Sunday May 13 2018, @07:27PM (6 children)
You'll die fairly soon after arrival, unless they have an ascent module (which nobody seems to be talking about).
Because you've got nothing much to eat.
You have to crap in your own pants and you can't wipe your own ass,
You can never itch your nose,
You barf once, you wear it for the rest of your (short) life.
Even if they send a shelter, you can only re-pressurize that so many times before you run out of air.
And you're not getting any oxygen from the martian atmosphere.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday May 13 2018, @07:35PM (5 children)
Oh wow gee nobody thought of growing food there. Or using a BFR to leave.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2151285-how-we-could-make-oxygen-on-mars-plus-fuel-to-get-home/ [newscientist.com]
http://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/6342/20150514/humans-may-not-have-to-carry-oxygen-to-mars.htm [sciencetimes.com]
You could also use plants to produce more oxygen.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by tftp on Sunday May 13 2018, @09:04PM (3 children)
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday May 13 2018, @09:27PM (2 children)
BFR could deliver the mass equivalent of the ISS to the surface of Mars in just 3 orbital-refueled trips.
ISS [wikipedia.org] mass = 419,455 kg
BFR [wikipedia.org] payload to Mars [wikipedia.org] with in-orbit refueling = 150,000 kg
Sending enough food there for an ISS-like crew to live for months, and sending what they need to set up a greenhouse and machinery to produce propellant for a return trip using BFR is entirely possible, and doesn't require decades of delay or good robotic technology.
Now I don't disagree that waiting a couple of decades and setting things up in advance with robots is a better idea. But I doubt that the initial forays into manned Mars exploration are going to (attempt to) produce a permanent colony. Even Musk doesn't have plans to pay for such an idea (at this point), he is just making the proposal and building the fully reusable and high-payload rocket he thinks will best facilitate colonization of Mars.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 14 2018, @06:18PM (1 child)
Even better, just bring the ISS to Mars when it's decomissioned.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday May 14 2018, @08:16PM
Recent NASA plans for Mars called for humans to orbit Mars rather than land on it, in the early 2030s. If that continues to be the case, maybe they can throw the ISS over there at the same time. But that doesn't track with the administration's current plans to transition use of the ISS to private companies.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Monday May 14 2018, @06:37PM
So true. You bring a potato. You poop on it, you water it. Eventually it makes food & air. Although the food is nothing but potatoes. Mars, possibly, will be known as the planet of french fries and vodka!
(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday May 13 2018, @07:16PM (3 children)
They barely have the power budget to run the rover, wasting more power on a helicopter seems like just showing off.
It won't be able carry much payload beyond a very small camera.
Its charging is via solar power. From its fixed base.
Its not designed to even get out of sight, so by definition, its not needed.
It's designed at best to get 10 meters high.
.
Some will say, "Well you have to start somewhere". But this will never be useful technology on that planet. The Martian surface, is already at the Earth equivalent of 100,000 feet up. We can't even fly earth helicopters at that height with all the power at our disposal. Its a fundamentally flawed lift technology for mars.
The good news is it will probably be lost very early in the mission, and they can get back to the science they went there for.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 13 2018, @07:37PM
> But this will never be useful technology on that planet. The Martian surface, is already at the Earth equivalent of 100,000 feet up. We can't even fly earth helicopters at that height with all the power at our disposal. Its a fundamentally flawed lift technology for mars.
Mars also has the *advantage* of lower gravity. I haven't done the calculations so I don't know how much this offsets the loss in lift from the thin atmosphere, but it's not as simple as you say. Presumably, the scientists at the National *Aeronautics* and Space Administration did those calculations, and figured it should work.
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Sunday May 13 2018, @09:27PM (1 child)
Like Captain Kirk before you, you've failed to realise the gravity of the situation.
Where's the logic in that? "A few hundred meters" may not be "out of sight," but you can certainly study things that are a few hundred meters away a lot better if you go over to them.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday May 14 2018, @07:00AM
William Shatner is never wrong and never fails
-- William Shatner
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