The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently released a video introducing carbon fiber rotor blades that “could be used in the next generation of Mars helicopters.” The test of a pair of Mars helicopter rotor blades came just one day before NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter made a record-breaking flight on Mars.
according to space dot com, NASA plans to incorporate helicopter-like drones into future Mars missions. They are expected to be “built with a more robust design than its predecessor, which has completed 66 flights and continues to fly.”
About “Next Generation Mars Helicopter”
NASA announced that a new rotor for use in next-generation Mars helicopters was tested at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California on September 15 of this year.
“The next-generation carbon fiber rotor blades being tested on Earth are nearly 4 inches (more than 10 centimeters) longer than those at Ingenuity, with greater strength and a different design,” NASA JPL said in a report. ” he said.
For three weeks, they spun carbon fiber blades faster and at larger pitch angles than ever before to see if the blades would remain intact as their tips approached supersonic speeds.
As part of the test, the blades were spun to 3,500 rpm. This is 750 revolutions per minute faster than the Ingenuity blade. It rotated at near supersonic speed (Mach 0.95).
Watch the video here
“The carbon fiber blades, which are longer and stronger than those used on the Ingenuity Mars helicopter, reached near-supersonic speeds during testing,” the space agency said.
After the test, Tyler Del Sesto, JPL’s sample recovery helicopter deputy test commander, said, “These more efficient blades are now more than a hypothetical exercise. They are ready to fly. “I’m working on it,” he said.
The US space agency believes these blades could enable larger, more capable Mars helicopters. “The challenge is that as the blade tips approach supersonic speeds, the turbulence that causes the vibrations can quickly get out of hand,” he added.
Earth and Mars are ‘testing hubs for future aircraft designs’
While its “next generation carbon fiber rotor blades” are being tested on Earth, the Mars helicopter Ingenuity flew its 59th flight across the Martian surface on September 16, at an altitude of 66 feet (20 meters) was reached. This was the highest flight recorded. Until now.
A video shared by NASA JPL on X shows two perspectives of the 59th flight of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. “The video on the left was taken with Mastcam-Z on NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance, and the black-and-white video on the right was taken with Ingenuity’s downward-facing Navcam,” NASA said.
Watch the video here:
“The agency’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter achieved new altitude and airspeed records on Mars during an experimental flight test,” NASA said in a statement.
Ingenuity was originally scheduled to fly five times, according to NASA. “With its first flight recorded in its mission log more than two and a half years ago, this helicopter has flown 66 times, exceeding its scheduled 30-day mission by 32 times,” it added.
“For the first time in history, two planets are home to testing future aircraft designs,” NASA said of the milestone, achieved by the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars and the testing of carbon fiber rotor blades on Earth. Ta.
“Testing our next-generation Mars helicopter was literally the best of both worlds,” said Teddy Tsanetos, Ingenuity project manager and Mars sample recovery helicopter manager, published by NASA JPL. cited in the report.
“Here on Earth, we have all the equipment and practical immediacy you could hope for when testing new aircraft components. On Mars, there are real-world, out-of-the-world conditions that can never be replicated on Earth. According to the NASA report, this includes having a very thin atmosphere and a significantly lower gravity than Earth’s.
Milestone alert!Livemint tops the charts as the world’s fastest growing news website 🌏 click here To know more.