NASA's Next Mars Helicopter Plan Is Here. (Image Credit: NASA)
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NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter completed an impressive 71 flights on Mars. However, it ultimately crashed in January 2024. Despite the crash, Ingenuity proved that flying a helicopter on another planet is possible. Throughout its journey, it also provided valuable lessons that encourages new helicopter designs at NASA. The little craft overcame challenges like Mars' thin atmosphere and unique flight conditions.
From the learning of Ingenuity, NASA is developing new helicopter designs with added capabilities for future planetary missions. Key projects include the Dragonfly helicopter going to Saturn's moon Titan, and the Sample Recovery Helicopter (SRH) that may be part of NASA's Mars Sample Return program.
Other concepts are the Mars Science Helicopter which could fly independently without a rover, and the Planetary Helicopter for exploring lava tubes on Mars.
Flight Challenges on MarsWhile Ingenuity succeeded, its engineers know flying on Mars is difficult. Factors like low air density, different speeds of sound, and airflow turbulence create unique aerodynamic issues that must be solved for new Mars helicopters.
"It's hard, but we think it is doable with effort," said Håvard Grip, a NASA engineer leading the work to the Scientific American website.
One key upgrade for new Mars helicopters is better autonomous navigation. Ingenuity is sometimes said to struggled to find its way in flat, featureless areas because it uses small rocks as waypoints. This ultimately contributed to its crash, NASA had suggested.
According to the report, NASA is enhancing the guidance and navigation of future helicopters using data from Ingenuity flights. For example, engineers studied how thrust adjustments helped infer wind speeds at different altitudes - something hard to measure from the orbit of the Mars or surface.
New Ingenuity Designs ExplorationAs designs improve, helicopters could open up new frontiers on planets. With superior mobility and speed over rovers, they could go into craters, up mountains, and even inside caves.
Helicopters may also aid future human exploration of Mars by scouting terrain far from landing sites. As Grip said, "We now have a new mobility system proven on Mars, and now it is about how to use it."
