The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is a technology demonstrator. The hope is that Ingenuity will one day lead to future generations of ever-more capable rotorcraft and other aerial vehicles for Mars exploration and other planetary science missions. This paper builds upon nearly twenty-four years of Mars rotorcraft and planetary aerial vehicle work at NASA Ames Research Center. It is posited that a spectrum of different Mars aerial vehicle mission concepts and capabilities could be developed over the next couple of decades – all of which are now potentially enabled by Ingenuity. A series of technology challenges or problems are also detailed in this paper. These problems are presented as an aid in helping establish a nascent planetary rotorcraft or planetary aerial vehicle research community as well as, maybe, helping realize some of the vehicle/mission concepts discussed in the paper.
The Future of Rotorcraft and other Aerial Vehicles for Mars Exploration
Vertical Flight Society’s 77th Annual Forum & Technology Display ; 2021 ; Online, US
Conference paper
No indication
English
THE FUTURE OF ROTORCRAFT AND OTHER AERIAL VEHICLES FOR MARS EXPLORATION
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