Now, the U.S space agency, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) after achieving a certain degree of success with its rovers on the surface of Mars is planning to send an unmanned aerial craft called Aerial Regional-Scale Environmental Surveyor(ARES) to Mars to collect for accurate and comprehensive data of the Martian surface.
Mars or the Red Planet has been the center of attention for astronomers, researchers and scientists for centuries and with the advancements in the field of technology, mankind has been able to learn a great deal about the barren planet, which is also our nearest neighbor.
The ARES project is known to have been deflected a lot in the past few years, due to the operational cost, but it seems that, this unique idea could prove to be an invaluable asset in understanding the Martian environment and terrain. The plan calls for an unmanned drone plane to fly about one mile above the Martian surface and take measurements and collect data.
One of the principal benefits of the ARES drone is that, this unmanned plane will be able to cover even those regions that so far have been inaccessible, even to the ground band exploratory Martian rovers, that NASA had sent in the past. As per the mission timeline, the ARES drone will be detached from its carrier craft about 12 hours from the Martian surface. After being detached, the aero shell of the aircraft will bring out the drone about 20 miles from the surface and that is when the drone will unfold its wings and tail and ignite its rockets for propulsion.
The entire trip of ARES will last only two hours in which the drone is expected to over up to a whopping 932 miles of unexplored Martian surface and will collect chemical samples, look for signs for water, as well as collect atmospheric data.
0 comments:
Post a Comment