Picture credits: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Pasadena: NASA has unveiled its conceptual design for the Mars Chopper, a next-generation aerial vehicle modeled after the success of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter.
Ingenuity, which debuted with the Perseverance rover in 2021, made history with powered flights on Mars. The redesigned Chopper hopes to improve these capabilities by providing more cargo capacity and range for future missions.
The Mars Chopper, which is still in the early phases of design, is a collaboration between NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Ames Research Center, and AeroVironment.
About the size of an SUV, the Mars Chopper features six rotors with six blades each. It is designed to carry payloads up to 11 pounds (5 kilograms) and traverse up to 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) per Martian day, or sol.
This increased range and capability will allow scientists to study large areas in detail, including regions inaccessible to rovers, accelerating the exploration of Mars’ diverse terrains.
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