PASADENA, CALIFORNIA — Building on the historic success of the Ingenuity rotorcraft, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has unveiled a novel design feature for its upcoming SkyFall Mars mission: a trio of mini helicopters equipped with functional, fabric-based “capes.”
The Science Behind the Tiny Capes
While the unique capes give the drones a playful appearance resembling miniature superheroes, they serve a critical scientific purpose. The fabric-like attachments are actually specialized, flexible ground-penetrating radar antennae designed to peer beneath the Martian surface.
Why Surface Radar is Crucial
-
Locating Shallow Water Ice: While orbiting satellites have mapped large-scale features on Mars for decades, they cannot resolve the uppermost layers of soil. The SkyFall helicopters will fly low and slow to scan the top 16 feet of the Martian regolith.
-
Preparing for Future Human Exploration: Identifying shallow subsurface ice deposits is essential for future crewed missions, as water can be harvested for drinking, oxygen production, and rocket fuel manufacturing.
-
Mapping Geological Layering: By capturing high-resolution radar data, the drones will help scientists map where dry dust transitions into solid ice sheets.
Engineering the Flexible Vivaldi Antennae
Designing an antenna that could survive rough landings on another world presented a major engineering challenge for the JPL team. At rest, the SkyFall helicopters sit just six inches above the ground, meaning any rigid instrument would snap upon touchdown.
Durable Design and Testing
-
Flexible Materials: Engineers constructed the antennas—utilizing a design known as a Vivaldi antenna—using lightweight layers of polyester, Vectran (the same robust material used for the airbags on the Spirit and Opportunity rovers), and fiberglass tape springs.
-
Rigorous Simulated Landings: In JPL’s Environmental Test Laboratory, the prototype antenna successfully withstood over 200 simulated Martian landings, bending out of the way on impact and springing back into shape without losing functionality.
As NASA prepares for future mission concepts, the SkyFall helicopters and their innovative radar capes represent a major leap forward in robotic exploration of the Red Planet.
Comment