Artist's drawing showing one of the Mars Sample recovery Helicopters collecting Mars 2020 sample tubes from depot while Mars Science Helicopter and Ingenuity are seen flying over Mars
The Mars Sample Recovery Helicopters are a pair of roboticunmannedhelicopters being developed by the engineers of the American company AeroVironment Inc. and proposed in March 2022 as a means of delivering Martian soil samples from the sample depots made by the Perseverance rover to the location of the Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL) that will load these samples onto the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), which, in accordance with the Mars Sample Return Mission program, will deliver them to low Martian orbit for future return to earth.[2]
Background of the project
As Perseverance deposits sample tubes as the depot, engineers are working on the design of the helicopters that would pick them up.
That effort started in earnest about six months ago, when MSR managers asked the Ingenuity team if a helicopter based on that design could be used to pick up sample tubes, so a sample recovery helicopter came into play.
Technically, a Martian Sample recovery helicopters developed by AeroVironment, Inc. are a further development of the design of a coaxial helicopter, created by the same company in 2013-2018 by order of NASA and embodied in Ingenuity, the world's first extraterrestrial helicopter, which carried out the first flight on Mars on April 19, 2021. Unlike that "pioneer helicopter", the new model has a payload capacity of 280 g (9.9 oz), has a small manipulator arm with a two-fingered gripper and a self-propelled landing gear using wheels instead of feet, enabling them to roll up, grab a sample and fly to the return vehicle.[3]
Key components are modified based on lessons learned from Ingenuity. Flight characteristics, including its maximum speed, range and flight time, are the same as Ingenuity. The power-to-weight ratio of the device will increase, for which the area of the solar battery and the capacity of its batteries will be increased. The control system of the upper screw will be somewhat simplified, and the engine power will increase. The overall dimensions of the helicopter will be slightly larger. In total, it is planned to send two such machines to Mars.[4] Along with this, high performance processors enabling autonomy, unprecedented mobility through both flying and driving, and a true manipulation capability with a robot hand, can enable much more than sample tube retrieval.[5]
The helicopters will have a range of 700 m (2,300 ft), but plans call for the lander to be within 50 m (160 ft) of the "depot" where the samples will be deposited. Each sample tube is about 150 grams.[6][7]
Concept
An artist's impression of an Ingenuity-class sample retriever campaign
The intermediate transportation of the collected samples on the surface of Mars was initially undertaken by the European Space Agency (ESA), which included this project in its ExoMars program. The Mars 2020 mission landed the Perseverance rover, which is storing samples to be returned to Earth later. However, due to repeated postponements, already in November 2021, NASA came to the need to postpone the delivery of samples and assess the risks inherent in the delivery scheme itself in July 2022. The decision was based on the success of Ingenuity.
The Mars Sample Return mission will not include the ESA Sample Fetch Rover and its associated second lander, but instead use a single lander carrying the helicopters and the ascent rocket that will take the samples to an orbiter, from where they will be launched back to Earth. Mission planners intend that Perseverance itself will retrieve samples that it previously cached on the surface and drive them to the ascent rocket, given its expected longevity. The helicopters, which will be slightly heavier than Ingenuity, would be used as a backup if Perseverance would be unable to perform the task.[8]
Sample Retrieval process
Retrieving a sample will take four sols, or Martian days. On the first sol, the helicopter will fly from the Sample Retrieval Lander to a landing site a few meters from the tube. On the second sol, the helicopter will roll up to the tube and grapple it with its robotic arm. On the third sol, the helicopter will fly back to the lander, and on the fourth sol roll into position so that the lander’s eas built sample transfer arm can take the tube.
References
^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: "Mars Helicopter". Mars.nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 16 April 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
^Laboratory, Bob Balaram, Chief Engineer for the Mars Helicopter Project at NASA’s Jet Propulsion. "Mars Helicopters - The 4R's - NASA". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 15 November 2022.((cite web)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
