NASA’s Proposed Mars ‘Chopper’ Is Smart on Steroids

Almost a year after Intelligence broke ground and completed its test mission to Mars, NASA unveiled a new concept for a successor to the Martian helicopter and it’s a big boy.

NASA’s Mars Chopper, as it’s called, is like an SUV, with six rotors, and each rotor has six blades (I’ve already done the math for you, that’s 36 blades). Astronomy agency soon to be revealed delivery of the helicopter, which is still in its early conceptual and design stages, according to NASA. Chopper project manager Teddy Tzanetos presented the idea at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Washington on December 11.

Intelligence was the first helicopter to fly on another planet, paving the way for more sophisticated choppers to follow in its footsteps. Its low-cost design and robustness help NASA create future ideas to explore other planets in a new way.

NASA also shared an exciting 30-second video showing a rotorcraft flying over the Martian surface during a possible future event. The Mars Chopper could carry a 5-pound (5-kilogram) scientific payload 1.9 kilometers (3 miles) per Martian day, or sol. “Scientists can use Chopper to study large areas in detail, quickly – including areas that rovers cannot navigate well,” NASA explained.

Intelligence moved so that Chopper could run. The OG Martian helicopter landed on the Red Planet in February 2021, inside the belly of the Perseverance rover. Soon after, the 19-inch (48-centimeter), 4-kilogram (1.8-kilogram) helicopter became the first powered aircraft. get up from the surface of another planet. Although originally intended to make only five test flights, the Skill continued, making 72 flights, and flying 14 times longer than the planned two-hour flight time.

Things fell apart for Ingenuity earlier this year after the helicopter broke its blades landing for the 72nd time, ending his career in January. NASA soon confirmed that the flight was faulty it made for “higher horizontal speed on touchdown.”

The intelligence achieved its goal of providing NASA with information that would help it develop similar spacecraft to explore Mars, and other planets, from the sky. During its test mission, Ingenuity also helped the Perseverance rover explore the Red Planet, hovering above the Martian robot and guiding its way through the dusty terrain of Mars. Despite being destroyed, Ingenuity still provides weather and avionics data to Perseverance every week.

The future of Mars Chopper has big shoes to fill, Intelligence has left a great legacy on the Red Planet.