Unmanned marsolet from ESA (2 photos)

Currently, there is information that the developers of ESA (European Space Agency, Paris) in full swing work on the creation of a transport drone helicopter for studies of the Martian surface.

Working on the planet, the NASA Rover while moving on the surface sometimes encounters serious obstacles, and to overcome the obstacles he sometimes has to spend substantial resources or to find workarounds. Satellites flying over the red planet and perform photo and video shooting from a great height, may not always meet all the requests of researchers of Mars. Therefore, the idea arose to use a research module for the type of traditional earth helicopters.

An opportunity to rise to a small height will allow research system more effectively to move to Mars with less energy and time on solving research problems, such as soil sampling, detailed photography and other important scientific research.

Meanwhile, the engineers decide how to optimize the existing structure of the UAV under the implementation of Mars missions, taking into account the specifics of the atmosphere and other nuances of the red planet. When ESA will present the first prototype of a Small Mars System (SMS), is not specified.

Source: ESA