American aircraft will fly on Mars

American engineers will build a special aircraft capable of flying close to the Martian surface to collect data about the red planet.

Illustration of ARES plane on Mars. (Photo: NASA)

Every time the US Space Agency (NASA) launches a spacecraft to Mars, everyone expects it to work for several years. For example, Spirit and Opportunity ships are designed to operate for three months but they still run for another 6 years.

But now, according to Popular Science, an NASA engineer came up with the idea of ​​bringing a spacecraft to Mars so that it only operated for two hours. In fact, it is an automatic jet powered by jet engine. It flew over the surface of Mars at a speed of more than 720 km / h. The aircraft is called ARES (Aerial Regional-Scale Environmental Surveyor).

The idea of ​​producing ARES has been sidelined, but it is now being noticed by NASA officials. If flying about 2 km from the Martian surface, the aircraft can sample the Martian atmosphere on a large area and measure rugged, rugged areas on the red planet. Self-propelled devices and Martian orbiting spacecraft cannot measure those areas.

Surrounded by a spaceship-like shell, ARES will be taken to a spaceship in a state where the wings and tail are folded. When it was about 12 hours from Mars, it would be separated from the spacecraft. At 32 km above the surface of the red planet, the cover will open, allowing the ARES wings and tail to spread out and the engine to operate. At first glance, the process seems complicated, but compared to a landing chamber landing on Mars with sophisticated devices, it is still much simpler.

The flight of ARES will only take place for two hours in the southern hemisphere of Mars, but in that short period of time it will fly through an area of ​​nearly 1,500 km long that people have never explored, measured Air indicator, search sign of water, collect chemical data, study surface magnetic fields.

Data on surface magnetic fields in the southern hemisphere of Mars will help scientists understand whether the southern hemisphere prevents solar wind. If this area prevents the solar wind, manned spacecraft landing trips to Mars in the future will be more convenient.