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The Future of Space Exploration: NASA Reveals Audacious Plan to Send a Swarm of Bee-Inspired Flying Robots to Explore and Reveal the Hidden Secrets of Mars
A Mars exploration from NASA is about to gain a new and innovative tool: flying robots inspired by bees, which will be able to buzz across the surface of the red planet, collecting crucial data for science.
This concept, dubbed “Marsbees,” is being developed by Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) da NASA and represents a promising solution to the challenges posed by the inhospitable environment of Mars.
The concept of Marsbees
Marsbees are bio-inspired aerial robots with flexible wings that flap efficiently, resembling the flight of insects and migratory birds such as monarch butterflies and wandering albatrosses. These animals are known for their long migration journeys, despite their relatively small size.
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Monarch butterflies, for example, can fly up to 4.000 kilometers, while wandering albatrosses can cover an impressive 12.000 kilometers in a single flight. The aerodynamic efficiency of these animals is being studied to improve the design of Marsbees, which will be able to fly long distances with minimal energy, even in the thin atmosphere of Mars.
With light and flexible wings, Marsbees will be able to sustain their flight efficiently, adapting to adverse atmospheric conditions. Mars. They will be equipped with color stereo cameras, navigation sensors, inclinometers and other high-precision instruments, as well as communication systems that will allow the exchange of information between the robots and the operating bases.
Marsbees Mission and Capabilities
The Marsbees' mission is to complement and extend the capabilities of rover who already participate in the Mars exploration. Currently, rovers like Perseverance and Curiosity move slowly across the planet's surface, facing limitations in terms of range and mobility.
With the addition of the Marsbees, the NASA hopes to add a “third dimension” to exploration capabilities by allowing flying robots to build detailed three-dimensional topographic maps of the Martian surface.
These small robots could also be used for specific tasks, such as atmospheric sampling, carrying pressure and temperature sensors, or spectral analyzers, which could identify minerals on the surface of Mars.
In this context, the rover would act as a recharging station and data collection point, allowing the Marsbees to return after completing their missions and prepare for further exploration.
Aerodynamic challenges and solutions
Flying on Mars is no easy task. Although the planet's gravity is about 38 percent of Earth's, Mars' atmosphere is only 1,3 percent as dense as Earth's air, making it extremely difficult to generate enough lift to keep an object aloft.
The Ingenuity helicopter, part of the Mars 2020 mission, has demonstrated that it is possible to fly on Mars, spinning its blades at a speed of 2.700 rotations per minute – five times faster than terrestrial helicopters. However, this type of flight consumes a lot of energy, resulting in short flight times, such as the three minutes that Ingenuity is able to fly on a single mission.
Marsbees, on the other hand, will be designed for longer, more efficient flights. With a flight time of 80 minutes and a range of 2,5 kilometers, they will be able to cover much larger areas than Ingenuity, while using less energy and offering greater flexibility to NASA missions.
This will be essential for future human exploration missions, which are in the plans of the agency and private companies such as SpaceX and Boeing.
The Future of Martian Exploration
Using a swarm of flying robots could transform how we explore Mars. In addition to increasing exploration capabilities, having multiple Marsbees flying in formation will allow missions to be resilient to individual component failures. If one robot fails, others can continue the mission, ensuring continued data collection.
One of NASA's main goals is to determine the habitability of Mars, carry out detailed meteorological measurements and prepare the ground for future manned missions.
The development of Marsbees could be a crucial piece in this puzzle, offering a robust, efficient and adaptable exploration system to the extreme conditions of the planet.
Since the first missions to Mars in the 1960s, humanity has made significant progress in exploring the Red Planet. With Marsbees, NASA hopes to continue this trajectory, opening up new possibilities for science and, eventually, for human presence on Mars.
