MARS LANDING
mission architecture, including its Curiosity
rover and proven landing system.
HELICOPTER DESIGN
AND TESTING
One fascinating aspect of the mission
is the design and testing, now rapidly
advancing, of all the pieces that make up
NASA’s Mars Helicopter ight model. This
will be the actual vehicle going to the red
planet. Its role is a massively important
one, enabling in ight images of Mars to
be received back on Earth for the rst
time. The technology will pave the way
for many future scienti c and exploratory
missions. Similar robots could serve as
‘ ying eyes’ for future rovers, exploring the
surroundings and nding the best route.
Weighing in at no more than 4lbs
(1.8 kilograms), it will take an enormous
engineering effort for the small helicopter
to y. The thin air on Mars is comparable
to conditions on Earth at an altitude of
30km. Also, taking the reduced Martian
gravity into account, the helicopter needs
to be very light (1.8kg) and can only carry
small batteries. The components used,
therefore, must be extremely energy
ef cient. Six of maxon motors’ 10mm
diameter DCX precision micro motors,
which have been used in previous Mars
NASA’s Mars Helicopter project test conductor Teddy Tzanetos, project manager MiMi Aung
and chief engineer Bob Balaram observe the helicopter fl ight model undergoing a test from
within the Space Simulator, a 7.62 metre wide vacuum chamber at NASA’s Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, California. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
missions, will be employed to move the
swashplate, adjusting the inclination of
the rotor blades, to control the vehicle.
The propulsion system has been designed
and built by AeroVironment, working
closely with maxon motor engineers,
under contract from JPL.
The majority of the detailed testing that
the ight model is now undergoing has
to do with demonstrating exactly how the
vehicle will operate on Mars, including its
performance at Mars-like temperatures.
One important question to be answered is
can the helicopter survive – and function –
INSIGHTS ON
MARS
Looking back,
it was on 26
November 2018
that NASA’s InSight
lander touched down
on the surface of Mars
to study the red planet’s
seismic activity and record its
core temperature. Unlike Earth, Mars does
not have tectonic plates and hardly any
geological activity. The surface is still as it
was four billion years ago, minus the lakes
and rivers we now know used to exist there.
Mars is interesting to researchers, because
it underwent the same basic formation
process as Earth. Both started out as balls
of liquid re and, through the process
of planetary differentiation, turned into
terrestrial (rocky) planets. Heavy metals
gravitated to the centre, where they formed
the red-hot iron core. Above, the mantle
was formed, enclosed by the crust, which
cooled down and solidi ed.
in cold temperatures, including nights of
up to -130 degrees Fahrenheit? A series
of tests within the Space Simulator
has shown this will not be a problem,
according to NASA.
The Mars Helicopter’s rst ight was
followed by a second in the vacuum
chamber the following day. Logging a
grand total of one minute of ight time at
an altitude of 2 inches, more than 1,500
individual pieces of carbon bre, ightgrade
aluminium, silicon, copper, foil and
foam have proven they can work together
as a cohesive unit.
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