Interest in utilizing rotorcraft to explore Mars is expected to increase following the anticipated successful technical demonstration of the Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity, during the Mars 2020 mission. Previously, science investigations have been limited by either the instrumentation resolution on orbiters or the roughness/accessibility of terrain a rover can traverse. Rotorcraft can enable low-altitude flight over and on-surface exploration at previously inaccessible locations. This paper describes potential mission concepts designed to utilize the unique capabilities of rotorcraft to advance the science performed in extraterrestrial environments. This includes missions tailored for investigating if Mars ever supported life, understanding climate processes and history, determining the evolution of Martian geology, and preparing for human exploration. The Mars rotorcraft mission concepts described in this paper can be divided into two categories: rover-assisted missions and independent (rotorcraft-only) missions. A number of concept vehicles, consistent with these proposed missions, are also discussed.
A Study of Past, Present, and Future Mars Rotorcraft
9th Biennial Autonomous VTOL Technical Meeting ; 2021 ; Virtual, US
Conference paper
No indication
English
Study of Past, Present, and Future Mars Rotorcraft
NTIS | 2021
|A STUDY OF PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE MARS ROTORCRAFT
TIBKAT | 2021
|Rotorcraft Wake Modeling: Past, Present and Future
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2009
|Past, Present and Future Composite Structures Applications in Rotorcraft
British Library Online Contents | 1999
|