Rotorcraft
NASA Helicopter Could Fly on Mars
The small helicopter will serve as a scout vehicle for a surface rover.
NASA is developing a 2.2-pound unmanned helicopter to fly on Mars. (Photo: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
NASA is developing a 2.2-pound unmanned helicopter to fly on Mars. (Photo: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)


The U.S. House of Representatives has approved $15 million to continue development of a 2.2-pound NASA unmanned helicopter with twin contra-rotating blades designed to fly on Mars. The autonomous helicopter is slated to be included on a 2020 mission to the Red Planet and is designed to fly ahead of a surface rover for two to three minutes per day as a scout vehicle, before returning to the rover to recharge its solar batteries. Accounting for the low atmospheric pressure on Mars, the rotor disc of the proposed prototype spans 3.6 feet and supports a body that resembles a medium-sized tissue box and is hardened against solar radiation. The current design has been tested at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.