NASA is using two scientists to test future helicopter designs for Mars

Engineers will go beyond the ends of the Earth to find more performance for future Martian helicopters.

For the first time in history, two planets have become home to testing future aircraft designs. In this world, there is a new rotor that can be used with the next generation Mars The helicopters were recently tested in NASAjet propulsion laboratory (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) in Southern California, rotating at speeds close to the speed of sound (Mach 0.95). Meanwhile, the agency’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter set new altitude and airspeed records on the Red Planet in the name of a test flight.

This video combines two perspectives of the 59th flight of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter. The video on the left was captured by Mastcam-Z on NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover; The black-and-white video on the right was captured by Ingenuity’s Navcam pointing downward. The flight took place on September 16. Image source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Creativity: Bridging Earth and Mars

“Testing our Next Generation Helicopters for Mars has been the best of both worlds,” said Teddy Tzanitos, Ingenuity project manager and director of Mars Sample Recovery Helicopters. “Here on Earth, you have all the tools and immediate hands-on training you could hope for while testing new aircraft components. On Mars, you have true out-of-world conditions that you could never recreate here on Earth. That includes an extremely thin atmosphere and much lower gravity than the earth.

Advanced rotor technology for Mars exploration

The next generation of carbon fiber rotor blades being tested on the ground are about 4 inches (more than 10 centimeters) longer than Ingenuity’s blades, with greater power and a different design. NASA believes these blades could enable larger, more capable helicopters on Mars. The challenge is that when the tips of the blades approach supersonic speeds, the turbulence causing the vibration can quickly get out of control.

Simulating Martian conditions on Earth

To find a space large enough to create a Martian atmosphere on Earth, engineers looked to JPL, which is 25 feet wide and 85 feet long (8 meters x 26 meters). Space simulation – A place where Surveyor, VoyagerAnd Cassini They got their first taste of space-like environments. For three weeks in September, the team monitored sensors, meters and cameras as the blades endured run after run at ever-higher speeds and greater pitch angles.

A dual-rotor system for the next generation Mars helicopter was tested in a 25-foot space simulator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on September 15. Longer and stronger than those used in the Ingenuity Mars helicopter, the carbon fiber blades reached speeds approaching the speed of sound during testing. Image source: NASA/JPL-Caltech

“We rotated our blades at up to 3,500 rpm, which is 750 rpm faster than the Ingenuity blades,” said Tyler Del Sesto, deputy commander of recovery helicopter test at JPL. “These more efficient blades are now more than just a virtual exercise. They are ready to fly.”

At roughly the same time, about 100 million miles (161 million kilometers) away, Ingenuity was ordered to try things the Mars Helicopter team never imagined they would do.

Achievements of unprecedented ingenuity

Ingenuity was originally scheduled to fly more than five times. With its maiden flight entering the mission log more than two and a half years ago, the helicopter has exceeded its planned 30-day mission by 32 times and flown 66 times. Every time Ingenuity takes to the air, it covers new ground, offering a perspective that no previous planetary mission has been able to achieve. But recently, the Ingenuity team took its solar-powered helicopters for a spin like never before.

Havard Grebe, chief pilot of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter, documents the details of each flight in the mission log, the pilot’s nominal log of planets and moons, after each flight. Entries for flights 9 and 10 can be seen here. Image source: NASA/JPL-Caltech

“Over the past nine months, we have doubled the maximum airspeed and altitude, increased the rate of vertical and horizontal acceleration, and also learned to land slower,” said Travis Brown, Ingenuity’s chief engineer at JPL. “Expanding the envelope provides invaluable data that can be used by mission designers for future Mars helicopters.”

Overcoming the challenges of a Mars mission

Due to considerations of available power and engine temperature, Ingenuity trips typically take about two to three minutes. Although a helicopter can cover a larger area in a single flight by flying faster, flying too fast can overwhelm the on-board navigation system. The system uses a camera that recognizes rocks and other surface features as they move across its field of view. If these features pass too quickly, the system may lose its way.

So, to achieve a higher maximum ground speed, the team sends commands to Ingenuity to fly at higher altitudes (the instructions are sent to the helicopter before each flight), which keeps the features visible longer. Flight 61 It set a new altitude record of 78.7 feet (24 m) while examining Martian wind patterns. with Flight 62 Ingenuity set a speed record of 22.3 mph (10 meters per second) – and I explored the site For the Perseverance rover science team.

The team also experimented with Ingenuity’s descent speed. The helicopter is designed to touch the surface at a relatively fast speed of 2.2 mph (1 mph) so that onboard sensors can easily confirm a landing and shut down the rotors before it can bounce back into the air. A helicopter can be designed to land more slowly with lighter landing gear. So, on flights 57, 58, and 59, they rotated it, and showed that Ingenuity could land at speeds 25% slower than the speed at which the helicopter was originally designed to land.

Future plans for creativity

All this Mars Chuck Yeager-ing is not over yet. In December, after solar conjunction, Ingenuity is expected to make two high-speed flybys during which it will perform a special set of rotation angles designed to measure its performance.

“The data will be very useful in improving our aero-mechanical models of how rotorcraft behave on Mars,” Brown said. “On the ground, such a test would usually be done on the first few flights. But that’s not where we fly. You have to be more careful when you’re working away from the nearest repair shop, because you won’t have to do any other work.”

More about ingenuity

Ingenuity began its life on Mars as a technology demonstration. It flew for the first time on April 19, 2021, flying at an altitude of 10 feet (3 meters) for 30 seconds. Four more flights in as many weeks added 499 seconds and saw the helicopter soar horizontally above the surface for 1,171 feet (357 metres). After demonstrating the feasibility of flying on Mars, Ingenuity entered the operations demonstration phase in May 2021 to demonstrate how aerial reconnaissance could benefit future exploration of Mars and other worlds.

The Ingenuity Mars helicopter was built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which also manages the NASA headquarters project. It is supported by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, provided critical flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity’s development. AeroVironment Inc. also provided Qualcomm and SolAero assisted with the design and key components of the vehicle. Lockheed Space designed and manufactured Mars helicopter delivery system.

At NASA Headquarters, Dave Lavery is the executive director of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Program.