The Sky-Sailor is a concept for a robotic aircraft with embedded solar cells on its wings, conceived in 2004 by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. It is hoped it would be able to study the Martian surface. [1] Sky-Sailor would be an autonomous, solar-powered Mars aircraft that would fly for one Martian day of 24 hours and scan features on the surface of Mars. [2] If this project is funded and developed, it would be able to take detailed pictures of Mars, especially in places where wheeled rovers can not go. [3]
The challenge for the developers was to make a very light weight model, which was accomplished. After that, an autopilot had to be installed so a non-stop autonomous flight for 24 hours could be achieved. All this was tested with a scale model in a wind tunnel. [4]
Two major challenges for small autonomous aircraft for Mars are to keep the weight down, such as batteries and electronics, and designing the autonomous control systems for directing the flight. [5] One design consideration is the amount of solar power available over the course of a Martian day, and another is the battery storage capacity and the efficiency and weight of the solar cells. [6] One reason for a small size was to facilitate its transport to planet Mars from Earth. [7]
The Sky-Sailor concept has a wingspan of about 3.2 meters and it weighs approximately 2.5 kilograms. Aerodynamic studies suggest the power needed for the aircraft to fly at a low altitude is about 13.2 watts. [4]
In 2007 a solar powered prototype made two flights totaling 10 hours. With a new battery, in 2008 it flew for 27 hours. [8]
If developed, the aircraft would be carried to Mars in a small aeroshell and that would be attached to a carrier spacecraft. Once the spacecraft has reached Mars, the aeroshell would be directly released into the Martian atmosphere. [4]
In 12 hours it could cover about 1,700 km (1,050 miles) over Mars, with the flight culminating in a crash landing. [9]
Mariner 4 was the fourth in a series of spacecraft intended for planetary exploration in a flyby mode. It was designed to conduct closeup scientific observations of Mars and to transmit these observations to Earth. Launched on November 28, 1964, Mariner 4 performed the first successful flyby of the planet Mars, returning the first close-up pictures of the Martian surface. It captured the first images of another planet ever returned from deep space; their depiction of a cratered, dead planet largely changed the scientific community's view of life on Mars. Other mission objectives were to perform field and particle measurements in interplanetary space in the vicinity of Mars and to provide experience in and knowledge of the engineering capabilities for interplanetary flights of long duration. Initially expected to remain in space for eight months, Mariner 4's mission lasted about three years in solar orbit. On December 21, 1967, communications with Mariner 4 were terminated.
Mariner 3 was one of two identical deep-space probes designed and built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for NASA's Mariner-Mars 1964 project that were intended to conduct close-up (flyby) scientific observations of the planet Mars and transmit information on interplanetary space and the space surrounding Mars, televised images of the Martian surface and radio occultation data of spacecraft signals as affected by the Martian atmosphere back to Earth.
An aerobot is an aerial robot, usually used in the context of an unmanned space probe or unmanned aerial vehicle.
The Mars Polar Lander, also known as the Mars Surveyor '98 Lander, was a 290-kilogram robotic spacecraft lander launched by NASA on January 3, 1999, to study the soil and climate of Planum Australe, a region near the south pole on Mars. It formed part of the Mars Surveyor '98 mission. On December 3, 1999, however, after the descent phase was expected to be complete, the lander failed to reestablish communication with Earth. A post-mortem analysis determined the most likely cause of the mishap was premature termination of the engine firing prior to the lander touching the surface, causing it to strike the planet at a high velocity.
Mars 1M was a series of two uncrewed spacecraft which were used in the first Soviet missions to explore Mars. They were the earliest missions of the Mars program. The Western media dubbed the spacecraft "Marsnik", a portmanteau of Mars and Sputnik.
Mars 96 was a failed Mars mission launched in 1996 to investigate Mars by the Russian Space Forces and not directly related to the Soviet Mars probe program of the same name. After failure of the second fourth-stage burn, the probe assembly re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, breaking up over a 320 km (200 mi) long portion of the Pacific Ocean, Chile, and Bolivia. The Mars 96 spacecraft was based on the Phobos probes launched to Mars in 1988. They were of a new design at the time and both ultimately failed. For the Mars 96 mission the designers believed they had corrected the flaws of the Phobos probes, but the value of their improvements was never demonstrated due to the destruction of the probe during the launch phase.
A solar vehicle or solar electric vehicle is an electric vehicle powered completely or significantly by direct solar energy. Usually, photovoltaic (PV) cells contained in solar panels convert the sun's energy directly into electric energy.
AeroVironment, Inc. is an American defense contractor headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, that designs and manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Paul B. MacCready Jr., a designer of human-powered aircraft, founded the company in 1971. The company is best known for its lightweight human-powered and solar-powered vehicles. The company is the US military's top supplier of small drones —notably the Raven, Switchblade, Wasp and Puma models.
Solar Impulse is a Swiss long-range experimental solar-powered aircraft project, and also the name of the project's two operational aircraft. The privately financed project is led by Swiss engineer and businessman André Borschberg and Swiss psychiatrist and balloonist Bertrand Piccard, who co-piloted Breitling Orbiter 3, the first balloon to circle the world non-stop. The Solar Impulse project's goals were to make the first circumnavigation of the Earth by a piloted fixed-wing aircraft using only solar power and to bring attention to clean technologies.
An electric aircraft is an aircraft powered by electricity. Electric aircraft are seen as a way to reduce the environmental effects of aviation, providing zero emissions and quieter flights. Electricity may be supplied by a variety of methods, the most common being batteries. Most have electric motors driving propellers or turbines.
Aurora Flight Sciences is an American aviation and aeronautics research subsidiary of Boeing which primarily specializes in the design and construction of special-purpose Unmanned aerial vehicles. Aurora has been established for 20+ years and their headquarters is at the Manassas Regional Airport in Manassas, Virginia.
The Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Survey (ARES) was a proposal by NASA's Langley Research Center to build a robotic, rocket-powered airplane that would fly one mile above the surface of Mars, in order to investigate the atmosphere, surface, and sub-surface of the planet. The ARES team, headed by Dr. Joel S. Levine, sought to be selected and funded as a NASA Mars Scout Mission for a 2011 or 2013 launch window. ARES was chosen as one of four finalists in the program, out of 25 potential programs. However, the Phoenix mission was ultimately chosen instead.
André Borschberg (FRSGS) is a Swiss entrepreneur, explorer, pilot, and speaker. He is the co-founder of the Solar Impulse project, the first ever round-the-world solar flight, successfully completed in July 2016. During the Japan-to-Hawaii leg, André broke the world record for longest solo flight in an airplane of any kind: 117 hours and 52 minutes, breaking Steve Fossett's 2006 record. Before that, on 7 July 2010, André completed the first 24-hour solar-powered flight. The flight set records for the longest manned solar-powered flight and the greatest height reached by a manned solar aircraft.
Solar-powered aircraft are electric aircraft that can be an airplane, blimp, or airship and use either a battery or hydrogen to store the energy produced by the solar cells and use that energy at night when the sun isn't shining.
The Mauro Solar Riser is an American biplane ultralight electric aircraft that was the first crewed aircraft to fly on solar power. It was also only the second solar-powered aircraft to fly, after the uncrewed AstroFlight Sunrise, which had first flown 4+1⁄2 years earlier.
A Mars aircraft is a vehicle capable of sustaining powered flight in the atmosphere of Mars. So far, the Mars helicopter Ingenuity is the only aircraft ever to fly on Mars, completing 72 successful flights covering 17.242 km (10.714 mi) in 2 hours, 8 minutes and 48 seconds of flight time. Ingenuity operated on Mars for 1042 sols, until its rotor blades, possibly all four, were damaged, causing NASA to retire the craft.
Solair I and Solair II are two German-designed electric aircraft.
SolarStratos is an aeronautical project aimed at flying a solar-powered airplane for the first time to the stratosphere. The SolarStratos airplane is equipped with solar cells but is not able to fly directly on solar power, thus is accurately described as a battery powered electric airplane that is equipped with solar cells; it is planned to be the first crewed solar-equipped aircraft to enter the stratosphere.
Ingenuity, nicknamed Ginny, is an autonomous NASA helicopter that operated on Mars from 2021 to 2024 as part of the Mars 2020 mission. Ingenuity made its first flight on April 19, 2021, demonstrating that flight is possible in the extremely thin atmosphere of Mars, and becoming the first aircraft to conduct a powered and controlled extra-terrestrial flight. It was designed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in collaboration with AeroVironment, NASA's Ames Research Center and Langley Research Center with some components supplied by Lockheed Martin Space, Qualcomm, and SolAero.