'We now have a new mobility system that's ready and proven on Mars'. The future is as far as your imagination goes.
NASA is currently contemplating a joint Mars Sample Return campaign with the European Space Agency that will transport regolith and Martian rock samples back to the Earth. This campaign would leverage NASA’sThe Perseverance rover’s capability of transporting payload to designated drop-off zones has already been for the world to see when it delivered sample tubes to a special pick-up zone on the Red Planet’s topside.
Håvard Fjær Grip, chief engineer of autonomy and aerial flight at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory summarized plans and the challenges involved in developing the planned Mars Sample Recovery Helicopters in an interview with“The primary challenge here is mass. We have very little air to work with on Mars. That immediately limits the amount of mass that we can carry,” he said.
“What we’re looking at now is how we can do it. What’s fairly clear is that the fundamental rotorcraft configuration and how we control it has been worked out and is heritage that can be relied upon. The new parts will require a lot of work, and that’s most likely to change as we go along with the design,” he noted.from its inception until the start of this year when he shifted focus to the Mars Sample Recovery helicopters.
“That first flight definitely stands out... A nail biter. Many of the follow-on flights have new elements to them, like the new flight software to give the helicopter more capability,” he told Leonard David of“Ingenuity has been tremendously helpful, taking images of the surface in that very region. The key thing is that we now have a new mobility system that’s ready and proven on Mars… and now it is how do you use it? It’s how far your imagination goes,” Grip concluded.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ingenuity Soars: NASA’s Mars Helicopter Aces 50th Flight – “We Are Not in Martian Kansas Anymore”The history-making rotorcraft has recently been negotiating some of the most hazardous terrain it’s encountered on the Red Planet. NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter marked its 50th flight on April 13, 2023, achieving new altitude and distance records. Despite facing challenging terrain and increas
Read more »
We Asked a NASA Scientist: Is There Life on Mars?Is there life on Mars? There's lots of pieces of evidence that say there was once a huge ocean on Mars and an atmosphere that could have supported life. But there's still a lot of Mars left to explore. There are places that are potentially habitable, like the deep subsurface. There are plac
Read more »
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover gets a speed boost | Digital TrendsNASA's hardy Curiosity rover has received a major software update that its team says will enable it to continue exploring Mars for years to come.
Read more »
Welcome to Mars! Caltech’s Jaw-Dropping, 5.7 Terapixel Virtual Expedition Across the Red PlanetBoth scientists and the public can navigate a new global image of the Red Planet that was made at Caltech using data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Caltech has used data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to create the highest-resolution global image of Mars ever, a 5.7 terapixel m
Read more »
Curious Rover captures dragon-like skeleton photo on MarsNASA shared some bizarre images captured by its Mars rover. Photos taken by the Curiosity Rover show strange objects sticking out of the surface of the planet.
Read more »