← Back to NASA Technology Projects
Completed TRL 3 (started at 2, targeting 3)
Ingenuity, the first helicopter to fly on another planet, will rev- olutionize future planetary exploration missions. Hitching a ride aboard the newly christened Perseverance rover, Ingenuity (Figure 1) will demonstrate powered flight in Mars’ thin atmo- sphere and conduct several 90-second flights with a range of 180 meters [1]. The 1.8 kg helicopter is equipped with a camera for navigation but no other scientific payload. Its sole purpose is to demonstrate first-ever powered flight on Mars, leading the way for future rotorcraft to perform independent science work on other worlds.
The flight conditions found on Mars are very different than those on Earth. The density of the atmosphere at the Mars surface is around 100 times less than on Earth, so the lift generated by the rotors is inherently limited. Additionally, the atmospheric temperature and composition on Mars further constrain rotor operation. Improving vehicle design will increase performance and boost scientific payload capabilities on future planetary rotorcraft.
Recent studies at Ames Research Center (ARC) have explored initial aerodynamic computational studies, vehicle design, and packaging to improve rotorcraft performance on Mars [2–4]. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labora- tory (JPL) is using Internal Research and Development (IRAD) funding to develop an earthbound guidance and control demonstrator as a preliminary step towards developing a second-generation Mars rotorcraft. All of these efforts are being conducted in support of an upcoming Mars mission proposal by JPL. Many aspects of vehicle design can enhance rotorcraft performance; however, current models show that optimizing blade design for operation on Mars would have the greatest impact on performance and therefore yield the greatest increase in science mission capabilities.
Initial computational efforts at ARC show that unconventional airfoil shapes (blade cross-sections) can yield dramatic performance improvements at Mars flight conditions. The preliminary results show that optimized blade designs using these revolutionary airfoils can enable a vehicle similar to the size of Ingenuity to carry a payload with a mass of 1.3 kg (potentially containing instruments such as spectrometers, cameras for imaging, and atmospheric and soil sensors) for nearly seven km [5]. However, the design space requires more exploration to simultaneously achieve this increase in predicted performance while maintaining structural integrity. Further, experimental testing will also be required to validate the computational results for the optimized blades. Little aerodynamic or flight data exists for the flight conditions experienced on Mars, though team members have previously conducted rotor testing under Mars flight conditions [6–8] and have validated Ingenuity flight test data [9]. The work proposed here as Rotorcraft Optimization for the Advancement of Mars eXploration (ROAMX) will significantly enhance rotorcraft capabilities on Mars, thereby enabling a vast expansion of experiments and exploration of the surface and atmosphere of Mars. The work proposed herein leads to an optimized rotor using novel unconventional airfoils and rotor blades for use in future-generation advanced Mars rotorcraft which significantly increase payload capacity, speed, and range. To accomplish these goals, the focus of this research is to continue optimization of airfoils and blade geometries for advanced Mars rotorcraft and to experimentally validate rotor performance predictions.
Computationally optimize and experimentally validate rotor blades and airfoils for Mars rotorcraft to enable greater scientific exploration of Mars.
Listed on TechPort itself — the most direct way to ask about this specific project.
This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.
None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.