To transport samples: NASA wants to send two new helicopters to Mars

to transfer samples
NASA wants to send two new helicopters to Mars

07/28/2022, 8:41 AM

Washington (AFP) – After the successful test of the Mars “Ibda” helicopter, the US space agency “NASA” wants to send two more small helicopters to the Red Planet. NASA and the European Space Agency ESA, which is also involved in the project, said at a press conference that the two helicopters could help collect samples for return to Earth.

Dexterity (Ingenuity) landed on Mars in February 2021 with the Perseverance (Endurance) rover. Shortly thereafter, the helicopter, powered by lithium-ion batteries and weighing about 1.8 kilograms, was the first to fly to another planet – and in the meantime there were 29. 30 days, Mars has long had to withstand extreme conditions and has been extended indefinitely.

After the first attempt at drilling failed last year because the rocks weren’t hard enough and couldn’t be filled into the sample tube, Perseverance has already succeeded in taking ten samples and filling them, and eleven more are doing the same. NASA. There is room for a total of 30 samples, each of which is thicker than a pencil and weighs about 150 grams. According to the current schedule, these samples are expected to appear on Earth in 2033.