High Lift Rotor Blades for Mars Helicopters (High Solidity)

Capability Need/Knowledge Gap: To enable Mars helicopters that can carry more science payload, rotors that have higher blade area (high solidity) are necessary. There is little research for Earth-based helicopters with high solidity. Objectives: (1) Develop design guidelines and rotor designs for high solidity rotors for Mars helicopters, (2) Show and publish high solidity blade impact on heli performance and exploration capabilities

Deliverables: (1) Three discrete rotor designs using optimized high solidity airfoils, (2) CAMRAD II and NDARC analysis of discrete rotor designs, showing the impact on payload and range capability, (3) Culmination into publication utilizing updated vehicle performance predictions, which can be used by scientists proposing helicopter missions to Mars and by conceptual designers developing guidelines for human exploration of Mars (high lift helicopters can transport equipment on surface)

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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.