In this photo, NASA’s Mars Ingenuity Helicopter is standing on the surface of the Red Planet as NASA … [+]
NASA / JPL-Caltech
NASA is about to land a helicopter on Mars – and they are already planning its claw replacement.
On Thursday, February 18, 2021, NASA’s Mars 2020 sustainability rover will land in the Jezero crater, believed to be the ancient river bed on the red planet. Attached to the interior is a small drone called “Ingenuity” which is going to take several short trips with power.
This is the first vehicle to fly on another planet.
However, “innovation” is only a technological demonstration, and only a few solar energy test trips are expected to take over a month.
So what comes next?
Cue the Rover project – Aerial Vehicle Exploration Networks (RAVEN), the next-generation Mars exploration concept received a $ 3.1 million NASA grant.
Here’s everything you need to know about Ingenuity and RAVEN – the future of planetary exploration?
What is innovation?
It is a three-wheeled autonomous rotorcraft – a drone – weighing 4 pounds / 1.8 kilograms which will soon become the first ever machine to perform powered flights on another planet in the Earth System. Solar.
Its four carbon fiber blades, arranged in two rotors, go in the opposite direction at about 2,400 rpm – many times faster than is required on Earth – to account for the feeling of Mars 99 % more dense.
NASA’s plan is to use it on the Martian surface in the first 90 days of the mission then, to attempt a flight.
What will innovate on Mars?
After a few short trips he flies farther and higher in an attempt to see what lies ahead for the Perseverance rover.
It also has a color camera so it should be able to get images of the Perseverance rover on the surface of Mars.
Christopher Hamilton pictured beside a drone in Iceland.
Christopher Hamilton / University of Arizona
What is RAVEN?
RAVEN is the concept of a next-generation Mars exploration that seeks to build on NASA’s upcoming Mars 2020 mission – with the hope that a rover + drone will be the standard surface explore a planet.
RAVEN has some very exciting new technology:
- RAVEN Claw: a drone-attached prototype grip device that can lift rocks or lift sand and return preserved samples to the rover.
- Lidar (Light Detection and Ranking): a remote sensing method for measuring distances using laser light. RAVEN will create computer-generated 3D ground models for engineers back on Earth to help decide where to place the rover.
- Hyperspectral image camera: this allows RAVEN to see light in multiple waves, making it easier to send the rover to the most interesting locations on the Martian surface.
Why is RAVEN important?
When NASA examines an unexpected object in the Solar System it approaches it in four stages: flyby, orbit, land and then rove. “With RAVEN, we are adding a fly to that list,” said Christopher Hamilton, an associate professor in the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, which heads a team of 20 scientists. and an engineer involved in the RAVEN project.
“The concept is entirely focused on building new technology and methods for two robots to work together on an outside group,” Hamilton said. “We are going to look at how a rover and a drone can work together to achieve the greatest scientific outcome of a mission. ”
Why Martian rovers might use a drone helper
However, one issue with Mars is how you should get over relatively young volcanic land because the surfaces are too rough to move over. RAVEN scrambles the best way forward – and collects and returns remote samples from inaccessible sites.
“Volcanic lands offer exciting targets for exploration because of their ability to generate arable hydrothermal systems, which can support or conserve microbial life,” Hamilton said. “RAVEN would make such places accessible for the first time. ”
On 29 August 2014 a broken eruption began in Holuhraun after it moved north from the Bardarbunga … [+]
getty
Why is RAVEN being tested in Iceland?
With volcanic lands similar to those seen on Mars, a freshly baked lava flow in Iceland’s Vatnajökull National Park will act as a terrestrial analogue.
RAVEN will survey the Holuhraun lava flow zone, which was created by an eruption just five years ago so there is no vegetation or upland. NASA used it in preparing Apollo astronauts for walking on the Moon.
“These are some of the newest buildings in the world,” Hamilton said. “What makes it particularly interesting to us is that the lava was emptied into a sandy area, which is very similar to some Martian lands.”
Martian night can get as cold as -130º Fahrenheit / -90º Celsius. The Icelandic highlands – home of Holuhraun – tend to be colder than 14 ° F / -10 ° C in winter.
What is a Dragonfly? ‘
Dragonfly is the nickname for the “Titan Rotorcraft Lander” which will be launched in 2025 and reach Saturn’s largest moon Titan – a billion miles from Earth – in 2034.
Once there, the two-year mission is to study the prebiotic chemistry of Titan.
A quadcopter / drone, Dragonfly will be able to fly away from its motherhood every 16 days. Animation will not be a problem as Titan has a dense atmosphere, although a safety inspection of each landing site will include extensive flights.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.