July 2, 2008: Mars Plane

The goal of this project is to design and build a solar powered micro airplane for autonomous exploration. This system, named Sky-Sailor, is fully autonomous in navigation and power generation. Equipped with solar cells covering its wing, it retrieves energy from the sun in order to supply power to the propulsion system and the control electronics, and charge the battery with the surplus of energy. During the night, the only energy available comes from the battery, which discharges slowly until the next morning when a new cycle starts.

This project started in 2004 under a contract with European Space Agency to study the feasibility of a Martian Solair Airplane. The first prototype weighs 2.6 kg for a wingspan of 3.2 meters. The 216 silicone solar cells are able to deliver up to 90 W at noon during summer whereas the power consumption of the airplane is 16 W at level flight. The longest flight so far lasted 5 hours, but measurements validated the design and prove that 24h is possible. This attempt will be done this summer 2007.

link Pravda

2007? Did they do it?
Does mars have enough atmosphere for those wings to support it?
Could that delicate design stand up to being dropped onto Mars?
Did they launch it from the spaceship?
I want answers, damnit. :eyebrow:

I've seen this speculated about years ago, but NASA must have not pursued it. It probably would fly, with significantly less gravity on mars. I think wind shear would destroy it though.

Marzipan?

Yes, yes, but will they charge for an extra bag?

spudcon;466293 wrote:

I've seen this speculated about years ago, but NASA must have not pursued it. It probably would fly, with significantly less gravity on mars. I think wind shear would destroy it though.

Wind shear would probably be significantly less of a problem on Mars considering the 0.6 kPa density of the atmosphere, compared to Earth's 101.3 kPa.

And aren't the ongoing dust storms on Mars significant enough to either knock it down or block the solar power? But it might work here. I'm willing to accept delivery of one [no charge, of course] and experiment with it, especially if it can be reconfigured to strafe squirrels.

I know it's all computers these days, but I find it amazing that they made a model in Earth's atmosphere with Earth's strong sunlight, got it to fly here, and based on the testing here, they are certain it would work in Mars's atmosphere with its dimmer sun.

Phage0070;466338 wrote:

Wind shear would probably be significantly less of a problem on Mars considering the 0.6 kPa density of the atmosphere, compared to Earth's 101.3 kPa.

They do have lots of dust devils.

You've seen the Mars plane. Here's the Mars with nuts.

xoxoxoBruce;466377 wrote:

They do have lots of dust devils.

"They"?

You mean :alien: :alien: :alien: ?

Phage0070;466338 wrote:

Wind shear would probably be significantly less of a problem on Mars considering the 0.6 kPa density of the atmosphere, compared to Earth's 101.3 kPa.

But, but, they have global dust storms there... oh, never mind, I forgot about global warming

In the movie "Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control" a scientist/inventor type suggested sending hundreds of these little mini rovers to mars which would swarm all over the planet sending info back to the mother ship where it would be relayed. The cost was a fraction of what a larger module would be and the amount of data collected would be hundreds of times greater but NASA couldn't quite wrap their heads around a new paradigm like that.

Great movie, btw.

dar512;466381 wrote:

You've seen the Mars plane. Here's the Mars with nuts.

Oh. And another Mars with nuts.

I'm less concerned about the longevity of such an aircraft. What I want to know is...how the fuck will they get it into the air? Are they going to build a lander with a big slingshot on it?

Elspode;466540 wrote:

I'm less concerned about the longevity of such an aircraft. What I want to know is...how the fuck will they get it into the air?

That all depends on whether there is a conveyor belt running below it...

Treadmill, it's a treadmill and it won't stop the plane from taking off... even on Mars. :p

Will they have airport security there too?

Elspode;466540 wrote:

What I want to know is...how the fuck will they get it into the air? Are they going to build a lander with a big slingshot on it?

No don't be silly. They'll just fly it there.

xoxoxoBruce;466573 wrote:

Treadmill, it's a treadmill and it won't stop the plane from taking off... even on Mars. :p

Thanks Bruce. The nouns are the first things to go...:sniff: