2024-07-17 03:54:22
Exploring Mars is a significant technical challenge due to the planet’s unpredictable conditions. However, NASA has funded a project that could make the task much easier.
This is reported by IFLScience.
A swarm of robotic bees is planned for Mars. Earlier this year, the first flying vehicle sent to another planet, the Mars helicopter Ingenuity, completed its mission. This vehicle exceeded the wildest expectations of NASA scientists, having completed 72 flights in three years instead of the planned five.
While scientists have a good understanding of how to organize flights on Earth, missions to Mars are a much more complex task. According to NASA scientists, the Red Planet has only 30% of Earth’s gravity, a thin and tenuous atmosphere, and a surface pressure of about 1% of Earth’s.
Because of these conditions, Ingenuity had difficulty in air travel and could not fly for long periods of time. But in the atmosphere of Mars, which seems not very suitable for flights, robotic bees could thrive, according to the authors of the Marsbee concept from the University of Alabama, USA. Their idea is inspired by nature.
Scientists explain that on Earth, insects and birds that constantly migrate demonstrate an amazing ability to fly very long distances, incommensurate with their size. For example, monarch butterflies with a wingspan of only 10 cm can fly 4 thousand kilometers at an altitude of more than 3 kilometers.
Birds, such as the wandering albatross with a 3-meter wingspan, are also capable of flying around Antarctica 2–3 times, covering distances of up to 120,000 kilometers. According to the authors of the Marsbee project, although the aerodynamic mechanism underlying such long-distance flights is currently unknown, recent studies have shown that the use of light and flexible wings contributes to energy-efficient movement.
It is also believed that such wings help hover and glide in unstable atmosphere. Scientists are working on developing a swarm of robotic bees to fly on Mars, inspired by natural models. Each Martian bee will be the size of a bumblebee, but its wings will be similar to those of a cicada.
These robots will be equipped with various sensors and communication devices. Scientists note that one of the advantages of their concept is that their robots will be very light. This allows them to be sent in large quantities on board a spacecraft.
The concept is dependent on continued funding from NASA. If all goes according to plan, a swarm of robotic bees could be sent to the Red Planet.
Earlier, “Kursor” wrote that researchers are trying to solve the mystery of the existence of life on Mars. For this, the key is to understand the climate on the Red Planet billions of years ago. It is believed that in ancient times the planet was covered with seas, lakes and rivers, had a warm climate and liquid water.
2024-07-17 03:54:22