Classmate Academy of Science & technology

Join us & enhance your Talent...

NASA's Mars Helicopter Took Flight for the First Time

NASA has tested its specialized helicopter designed for its Mars 2020 mission.

NASA has finally flown its specialized helicopter due to take flight on the red planet in the Mars 2020 mission. Weighing in at no more than 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms), the helicopter is bound to explore Mars' practically non-existent atmosphere.

Extensive testing

But first it needs to go through extensive testing set to see how the helicopter could operate on Mars rough conditions, including its cold temperatures featuring nights as low as minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 90 degrees Celsius).

"Gearing up for that first flight on Mars, we have logged over 75 minutes of flying time with an engineering model, which was a close approximation of our helicopter," said MiMi Aung, project manager for the Mars Helicopter at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

"But this recent test of the flight model was the real deal. This is our helicopter bound for Mars. We needed to see that it worked as advertised."

Mimicking Mars' atmosphere

The researchers had to create the right conditions to mimic the thin Martian atmosphere. A such, the Mars Helicopter's first flight was followed up by a second in a vacuum chamber.

"Getting our helicopter into an extremely thin atmosphere is only part of the challenge," said Teddy Tzanetos, test conductor for the Mars Helicopter at JPL.

"To truly simulate flying on Mars we have to take away two-thirds of Earth's gravity, because Mars' gravity is that much weaker."

Everything had to be tested as the next flight will be on the red planet itself.

"The next time we fly, we fly on Mars," said Aung.

"Watching our helicopter go through its paces in the chamber, I couldn't help but think about the historic vehicles that have been in there in the past. The chamber hosted missions from the Ranger Moon probes to the Voyagers to Cassini, and every Mars rover ever flown. To see our helicopter in there reminded me we are on our way to making a little chunk of space history as well."

The Mars Helicopter is set to launch as a technology demonstrator with the Mars 2020 rover. It is expected to reach Mars in February 2021. The 2020 rover will conduct Martian geological assessments including determining the habitability of the environment.

Water-Bearing Minerals Found on Asteroid Bennu

Researchers are investigating whether similar objects may have seeded the Earth with water and organic materials.

Water-bearing minerals have been discovered on the surface of the asteroid Bennu. The revelation came from an investigation of early spectral data from NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft orbiting the near-Earth asteroid.

The composition of Bennu

"Scientists are interested in the composition of Bennu because similar objects may have seeded the Earth with water and organic materials," said SwRI's Dr. Victoria Hamilton, a mission co-investigator and lead author of a paper.

"OSIRIS-REx data confirm previous ground-based observations pointing to aqueously altered, hydrated minerals on the surface of the asteroid."

The Southwest Research Institute-led team identified infrared properties similar to those in a type of meteorite called carbonaceous chondrites. These meteorites and their parent bodies formed close to the beginning of the solar system. As such, they may provide evidence of the distribution of water in the solar disk at these times.

"During planetary formation, scientists believe that water was one of many chemical components that accreted to form Earth; however, most scientists think additional water was delivered in part by comets and pieces of asteroids, including water-bearing carbonaceous meteorites," Hamilton said.

"Many of these meteorites also contain prebiotic organic chemicals and amino acids, which are precursors to the origin of life. The details of water delivery to Earth as well as the larger issue of the different inventories of water ice in the early solar system affect how we view solar system formation."

Water abundant

Carbonaceous chondrites may contain up to 10-15 percent of water and even as much as 20 percent in some rare cases. The presence of this water indicates that they have not undergone significant heating.

"Because asteroids with hydrated minerals are found throughout the main asteroid belt, significant ice must have been present in the disk during and shortly after the time of carbonaceous asteroid accretion," Hamilton said.

OSIRIS-REx is set to touch Bennu's surface in the summer of 2020 to collect a sample to bring back to researchers. When it returns to Earth in 2023, scientists will be able to confirm if some of their theories regarding the asteroid are correct.

The study is published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Happy Mahila / Womens Day