NASA completes successful test of Mars 'helicopter'

NASA scientists tinker with the Mars drone
NASA
Asher McShane29 March 2019

NASA has successfully completed a test flight of a helicopter that will hover above the surface of Mars.

The helicopter is due to be flown on the red planet remotely by 2021. Engineers are making progress in their ambitious plans to launch a drone-like device into the skies above the Red Planet for the first time.

They hope it will reveal a new perspective on the Martian surface.

Remotely controlling a helicopter from hundreds of millions of miles away, on top of Mars's thin atmosphere and freezing temperatures as low as minus 90C at night make flying such a device an incredibly difficult technical feat.

They hope to pilot the piece of kit remotely to explore the surface of Mars
NASA

The space agency has been putting the 4lb (1.8kg) helicopter through its paces in a vacuum chamber at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which swaps nitrogen, oxygen and other gases for carbon dioxide to mimic the atmosphere of the Red Planet, as well as a gravity offload system.

"Getting our helicopter into an extremely thin atmosphere is only part of the challenge," said Teddy Tzanetos, test conductor for the Mars Helicopter.

"To truly simulate flying on Mars we have to take away two-thirds of Earth's gravity, because Mars's gravity is that much weaker."

Nasa is aiming to launch the helicopter with the Mars 2020 rover in July 2020, before it is expected to reach the planet in February 2021 and carry out flights a few months later.

Scientists performed test flights of the drone in a vacuum chamber
NASA

"The next time we fly, we fly on Mars," said MiMi Aung, project manager for the Mars Helicopter.

"Watching our helicopter go through its paces in the chamber, I couldn't help but think about the historic vehicles that have been in there in the past.

"The chamber hosted missions from the Ranger Moon probes to the Voyagers to Cassini, and every Mars rover ever flown. To see our helicopter in there reminded me we are on our way to making a little chunk of space history as well."

The news comes days after US Vice President Mike Pence told Nasa that he wants astronauts on the Moon again within five years, which he said "holds great scientific, economic and strategic value".

Additional reporting by PA

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT