NASA outlines larger helicopters for future Mars missions

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, which has been tested on the surface of Mars for weeks, has been an impressive success. With the successful test flight of the Ingenuity helicopter and the ongoing mission, NASA engineers are already working on the concept of a larger and more capable rotorcraft that could be used for future missions.

NASA wants to continue flying Ingenuity helicopters and performing more missions. The data collected by the helicopter supports engineers at JPL, the Ames Research Center and AeroVironment in planning phases for future helicopter designs. NASA is already considering a larger vehicle called the Mars Science Helicopter.

It will be a six-rotor helicopter that weighs about 30 kilograms. By comparison, ingenuity is much smaller, at just 1.8 kilograms. With the additional mass, the Mars Science Helicopter can carry up to 5 kilograms of science payloads and fly up to 10 kilometers per mission. Currently, NASA is working on scientific applications and what type of scientific research to achieve by adding an aeronautical dimension to the mission.

NASA says having the ability to fly will allow it to examine "special areas" of astrobiological interest without the risk of contamination. One of the missions already described could see a larger Martian helicopter visit an outflow channel called Mawrth Vallis, which is difficult for rovers to access. It will collect samples at several locations and send them back for analysis later.

One mystery is exactly how much it will cost to build a Mars science helicopter, or when the helicopter's flight opportunity may arise. The white paper describing the large Mars Science Helicopter also has a simpler helicopter design, which will be an enlarged version of Ingenuity. The team said that with a low enough mass and volume, it should be considered in all future opportunities to launch to the surface of Mars.

However, NASA officials have confirmed that they are not considering adding a helicopter to the next lander mission. The next mission is the SampleBack, which is part of the Mars SampleBack program, which is currently scheduled to launch no earlier than 2026.