Originally, the small helicopter Ingenuity was only supposed to complete five flight maneuvers on the red planet for one month after arriving on Mars in early 2021. The 50th flight mission was announced in April of this year. The 53rd flight attempt initially resulted in a crash, but on September 3, 2023, Ingenuity set a record during the 57th flight attempt in the thin Martian air. Overall, the little helicopter now has more than 100 minutes in the air spent.
Due to the success, the research teams at the US space agency NASA are planning two more mini-helicopters to replace the space agency’s mission. The aim is to bring tubes with Mars samples to Earth. The teams are also building a flying vehicle that will visit Saturn’s moon Titan.
According to a recent study The use of an interplanetary helicopter could be optimized with a magnetometer. This could collect unique data about magnetic fields etched into the crust of any planet in the solar system being explored. According to the research team, “The era of helicopter-borne exploration on Mars” began. With a magnetometer and the analyzed future data, experts could learn more about the formation of Mars or other celestial bodies.
Helicopters bridge the gap between land and space exploration
Most data from Mars comes either from rovers exploring the planet from the surface or from space probes exploring Mars from space. A fleet of helicopters could collect data from areas that neither rovers nor orbiters can easily reach.
There is a precedent on Earth: Aircraft survey data has revealed a pattern of magnetic anomalies along tectonic plate boundaries, but satellites have failed to find the same pattern. Ultimately, this finding provided the main evidence for the now well-known magnetic field reversals on Earth.
Unlike Earth, Mars does not generate its own magnetic field. Its dynamo – a rotating lump of molten material in the planet’s core that once generated a significant magnetic field – switched off about three or four billion years ago, leaving behind countless pockets of magnetized crust. However, the depth and strength of these scattered patches on Mars, which can provide insight into the planet’s evolution, have not been comprehensively mapped.
With the help of powered flights, some of the unexplored signals could be detected. The helicopter might not even have to fly ten kilometers high over gorges, steep slopes, craters and dunes. Russia and India are also planning a flying vehicle for Mars, namely an airplane.