{"id":21476,"date":"2018-05-14T07:56:06","date_gmt":"2018-05-13T21:26:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=21476"},"modified":"2018-05-14T07:56:06","modified_gmt":"2018-05-13T21:26:06","slug":"solar-helicopter-drone-mars-mb0584","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-helicopter-drone-mars-mb0584\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Powered Helicopter Drone To Fly On Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Solar

Image: NASA<\/p><\/div>\n

Boffins at NASA have been successful in their efforts to develop a solar powered helicopter drone that will be part of the Mars 2020 rover mission.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This development is no mean feat. Mars holds some special challenges for the use of airborne drones, including an atmosphere that is a hundred times thinner than Earth’s that requires such craft to be very light and powerful.<\/p>\n

What NASA has come up with is a helicopter drone weighing around 1.8 kilograms featuring twin, counter-rotating blades that will spin at around 3,000 rpm \u2013 about 10 times the rate of a helicopter on Earth (but blades on small drones used here on Earth spin much faster).<\/p>\n

The energy required for operation will be supplied from solar cells charging a lithium-ion battery pack.<\/p>\n

The Mars helicopter will be stowed in the belly pan of the Mars 2020 rover. When a suitable site is located to deploy the device, it will be placed on the ground and the rover will move a safe distance away. The solar cells will then go to work in charging the battery, tests performed and then hopefully it will be launched for its historic flight.<\/p>\n

On its first flight, the “marscopter” will climb to around 3 metres and hover for approximately 30 seconds. In subsequent test flights (5 planned in total), distances will be increased up to a few hundred meters and durations of up to 90 seconds.<\/p>\n

Due to communications delays, the marscopter will receive instructions prior to the short missions and then perform the flights autonomously.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ability to see clearly what lies beyond the next hill is crucial for future explorers,\u201d said<\/a> Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. \u201cWe already have great views of Mars from the surface as well as from orbit. With the added dimension of a bird\u2019s-eye view from a \u2018marscopter,\u2019 we can only imagine what future missions will achieve.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n