The “Voice of America” website said on the 10th that this high-altitude glider was developed by the University of Arizona in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The high-altitude glider will be an invaluable resource in helping NASA study important regions above the surface of Mars, project leader Alex Kling said in the statement. Kling works at NASA’s Mars Climate Modeling Center, which studies current and past weather and climate activity on Mars. “The Mars Glider survey area is the intersection between the surface and the atmosphere, where dust is collected and sent into the atmosphere, where trace gases mix, and where mountains-canyons regulate a lot of wind, which we haven’t seen before. Too much relevant data.” To that end, the Mars Glider will contain an array of custom navigation sensors as well as cameras, temperature and gas sensors to gather information about Mars’ atmosphere and geology.
The reason why high-altitude gliders are used to study the Martian atmosphere is that the related fields are still close to blank. “Eight spacecraft are currently orbiting Mars, and three rovers are exploring the Martian surface. But none of them can effectively collect data at the edge of the Martian atmosphere.” Although NASA has successfully tested the “wit” small unmanned helicopter on Mars, it can only fly for a few minutes at a time, and the maximum flying height is only 12 meters, which is far from meeting the demand.
The Mars glider under development weighs about 5 kilograms, has a wingspan of 3.35 meters, and is about the size of an albatross. Traditional Mars rovers typically rely on solar energy and require additional batteries to operate, the report said. Gliders, on the other hand, are lightweight, low-cost and fully powered by wind, and can take advantage of Mars’ natural winds without the need for an engine. Engineers have revealed that gliders can also fly like albatrosses on long-distance flights, using a method known as “dynamic soaring,” which takes advantage of the change in horizontal wind speed with the height of the terrain, which is common on Mars.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings