NASA announces the attempt to launch exploration drone to Mars, prototype movies are also being released

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched May 11, 2018, the Mars probe that will be launched in 2020Mars 2020Together with the drone for exploration "Mars HelicopterWe announced that we will launch. It is the world's first time to skip drones on planets other than the Earth.

Mars Helicopter to Fly on NASA's Next Red Planet Rover Mission | NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/mars-helicopter-to-fly-on-nasa-s-next-red-planet-rover-mission

Mars 2020, whose goal is to launch in 2020 by NASA, consists of three steps of "to search for traces of life on Mars" "to collect samples of rocks and soil under the Mars," "to produce oxygen from the atmosphere of Mars" A spacecraft conducting experiments will be launched from July to August 2020. The Mars Helicopter announced this time will be developed over the course of 4 years and will be launched together with Mars 2020 towards Mars.

What kind of drone is Mars Helicopter can be seen in the following movie published by NASA.

NASA Mars Helicopter Technology Demonstration - YouTube


The Mars Helicopter is carried to Mars on the body of the mars 2020 of the spacecraft.


Mars Helicopter weighs about 4 pounds (about 1.8 kg), and the body is about as large as softball. It has four thin legs for landing and two 2 propellers. The Mars Helicopter has built-in solar cells that charge lithium-ion batteries, and heat mechanisms that work even on the evening of cold Mars that can reach minus 100 degrees.


In Mars Helicopter's counter-rotating rotor, the upper and lower feathers rotate in opposite directions at 3000 rpm, which is about 7 to 8 times the helicopter on Earth. This is only about 75% of the earth, to fly steadily in Mars's thin atmosphere. The flight test will be carried out on the first 30 days after arriving on Mars.


The task on Mars Helicopter is to collect terrain data for the spacecraft. The altitude at which Mars Helicopter can fly is up to about 40,000 feet (about 12 km), and it is possible to capture complex terrain of Mars from the sky with a camera even in places where Mars 2020 can not reach.


When the shooting ends, it lands and information is sent to the spacecraft via wireless communication.


Mars Helicopter has already completed a prototype, and flight experiments are carried out in an airtight room reproducing Martian atmosphere and atmospheric pressure.


The prototype of Mars Helicopter shows a fairly stable flying and there is no such thing that the attitude will be blurred while flying.


Mars four legs like a spring, Mars Helicopter firmly landing while absorbing shock.


"NASA is proud of the world's first planet to fly a drones on a planet other than the Earth and the idea of ​​flying drones on Mars is thrilling," NASA administrator, Mr. Jim Bridestine said doing.

Mars 2020 and Mars Helicopter are in Florida, USACape Canaveral Air Force BaseIt was launched from July to August 2020 by the Atlas V rocket and is scheduled to arrive to Mars in February 2021.