New York: The Mars Helicopter will be included in National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) next rover mission in 2020, to get a birds-eye view of Martian terrain. It is a small, self-flying aircraft designed specifically for the Red Planet.
“The 1.8 kilogram chopper is a high-risk, high-reward project,” said NASA in a statement on Friday.
We’re sending a helicopter to Mars! Traveling onboard our #Mars2020 rover, this #Marscopter will test our capabilities for controlled flight in the thin atmosphere of the Red Planet and could pave the way for future uses across the solar system: https://t.co/uZFyRmUTgh pic.twitter.com/XlCP9xERub
— NASA (@NASA) May 11, 2018
“The ability to see clearly what lies beyond the next hill is crucial for future explorers,” Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s associate administrator for science, said. They are seeking international support for their project of sending humans to the Red Planet in the 2030’s or later and thus, the views from the helicopter will be quite useful for them in providing public relations tool.
In an announcement, NASA said that each of the planned flights on Mars will last as long as 90 seconds. Powered by solar charged-batteries, these aircrafts will be controlled through commands relayed from the rover.
“We don’t have a pilot, and Earth will be several light minutes away, so there is no way to joystick this mission in real time,” said Mimi Aung, the helicopter project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
