For the first time in more than three decades, NASA has no confirmed plans to send a new lander or rover to Mars. Instead, the agency is shifting its near-term focus toward aerial exploration, with autonomous Mars helicopters emerging as a promising way to study the Red Planet.
NASA’s first major science mission using Mars drones could begin with the three-helicopter Skyfall mission, which is scheduled to launch as early as late 2028. The Skyfall helicopters are expected to reach Mars aboard NASA’s Space Reactor 1 “Freedom” mission, a project designed primarily to demonstrate nuclear-electric propulsion in deep space.
Both the SR-1 Freedom and Skyfall projects were added to NASA’s portfolio within the past six months. Estimated at $2.1 billion, the SR-1 Freedom mission would repurpose the core module of the canceled Gateway lunar space station as a nuclear propulsion testbed. Skyfall, meanwhile, builds on the success of NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter, which became the first aircraft to achieve powered flight on another planet in 2021.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is partnering with high-altitude drone manufacturer AeroVironment to design and build three Skyfall helicopters, along with one spare vehicle. The partnership brings together the same organizations that developed Ingenuity, which landed on Mars with NASA’s Perseverance rover.
Skyfall Mars Helicopters Are Under Development
AeroVironment announced last week that it had received a contract from JPL to “co-design and co-manufacture” three Skyfall helicopters. Ingenuity completed 72 flights before making a hard landing in early 2024, far surpassing its original goal of five demonstration flights.
Engineers are using Ingenuity’s proven design as the foundation for Skyfall. The new Mars helicopter will be slightly larger, weighing approximately 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds) compared with Ingenuity’s 1.8 kilograms (4 pounds). It will also feature upgraded rotor systems capable of carrying heavier scientific instruments.
Skyfall could demonstrate that Mars helicopters can be developed as a repeatable exploration platform rather than as one-off experimental vehicles. “We are excited to partner with MacCready Works at AeroVironment, the company’s advanced research and development organization,” said Jeff Rodrian, head of MacCready Works.
AeroVironment will be responsible for Skyfall’s rotor system, airframe, structural components, avionics integration, and scientific payload accommodations, according to the company. JPL will develop the power systems, electronics, flight algorithms, and software, as well as ground-penetrating radar designed to investigate shallow subsurface ice on Mars.
Each helicopter will also carry cameras and sensors to study the Martian atmosphere. These capabilities represent a major upgrade over Ingenuity, which carried two cameras but no advanced scientific instruments.
Ingenuity’s operating range was constrained because it had to communicate through the Perseverance rover. Skyfall will have greater communications flexibility, using an overhead relay orbiter to transmit and receive data. This capability could allow the helicopters to travel farther, explore more terrain, and conduct science missions across a wider area of Mars.
Source: arstechnica.com