Researchers Develop Sailing Plane Designed to Fly Over Mars

American researchers have developed a light sailing craft designed to fly over Mars and collect data.

Non-motorized aircraft are built to use natural winds pattern around Mars to operate for days.

The aircraft is equipped with flight, temperature and gas sensors, as well as cameras. It is designed to collect data about the atmosphere and physical structure of the Red Planet.

A working model of the sailplane was developed by engineers at the University of Arizona. The team is partnered on the project with Alexandre Kling, a research scientist with the American space agency NASA.

Kling said in a statement the sailing craft could be a valuable resource in helping NASA study important areas above the Martian surface.

“You have this very important and critical piece at the planetary boundary layerlike in the first few kilometers above the ground,” he said. “This is where all the exchange between the surface and the atmosphere takes place.”

Kling works at NASA’s Mars Climate Modeling Center. The center developed a model designed to examine current and past weather and climate activity on Mars.

The Mars sailing craft will contain a series of specially designed navigation sensors, as well as cameras and temperature and gas sensors to gather information about the Martian atmosphere and geological landscape. (Image Credit: Emily Dieckman/College of Engineering)

Kling said this area, or zone, above the planet is where dust is picked up and sent into the atmosphere. It is also where the gaseous elements are mixed. So far, Kling said, very little data is available about this zone.

Researchers describe their progress on sailing planes in a study that recently appeared in the publication outer space.

The team notes that there are currently eight active spacecraft orbiting Mars and three rover vehicles also exploring the surface. But these research vehicles are limited in their ability to collect data in the area just above the Martian surface.

NASA has been experimenting with a small helicopter on Mars, the Ingenuity. So far, Ingenuity tests have been successful. And such aircraft can perform operations as designed for sail planes. But this experimental helicopter is only capable of flying for a few minutes at a time and can only reach a height of about 12 meters.

“These other technologies are all very energy constrained,” said the study’s lead author, Adrien Bouskela. He is an engineering doctoral student at the University of Arizona.

Bouskela said the aim of the sailplane was to use the natural wind flow around Mars to avoid using engine-powered vehicles. “The main question is: How can you fly for free? How can you use the wind over there?” asked Bouskel. He noted that other research vehicles typically rely on energy from the sun and demand battery operate.

The engineering team performed a tethered launch of an early version of the sailing craft, in which it slowly descended to Earth attached to a balloon. (Image Credit: University of Arizona)

The researchers say the sailing plane they are developing is light, low-cost and fully wind-powered. The current model has a wingspan of about three and a half meters. The team said the plane was mostly designed for use vertical the wind blows over Mars.

But the aircraft will also be able to use a method called dynamic soaring, the engineers said. This method allows the aircraft to gain energy by repeatedly traversing limitation between air masses of different strength levels. This kind of wind activity is well known on Mars.

Today’s Mars rover has mostly taken pictures and data of flat, sandy areas of the planet that are safe for vehicles to land. But the researchers say the sailing craft “will be able to explore new areas by” take advantage about how the wind pattern shift around geological formations such as canyons and volcanoes.”

The team has tested the sail plane by attaching it to a balloon that floats in the sky. Further tests are planned for this summer when the researchers are expected to send the plane up to about 4,500 meters above sea level. They also plan to expand their research to involve mathematical modeling of possible flight plans based on Mars climate data.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from the University of Arizona and NASA.

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Words in This Story

pattern – n. the regular and repetitive way in which something happens

layer – n. amount of substance that covers the surface

battery – n. a device that provides and stores electricity for certain electronic devices

vertical – adj. pointing straight up from the surface

limit – n. a line that bisects an area or forms an edge around an area

take advantage of – v. to use good things in certain situations

shift – v. to change or make a change in place, position, or direction

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