Watch NASA’s new Mars helicopter rotor break the speed of sound (video)

When you purchase through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.

NASA is testing the limits of future Martian aircraft by working to develop a fleet of next-generation helicopters that will fly through the Red Planet’s thin atmosphere.

In March, NASA engineers Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California conducted tests on rotor designs that could be used to fly these drones, spinning the experimental helicopter’s blades fast enough for their tips to exceed Mach 1 (the speed of sound).

A total of 137 tests were performed in a state-of-the-art chamber capable of simulating The atmosphere of Mars by replacing the air with a low density concentration of carbon dioxide. This work provided NASA with valuable data that engineers say could increase the vehicle’s lifting capacity by 30%, allowing future Martian helicopters to transport heavier scientific instruments and larger batteries over greater distances.

The very first aerodynamic flight on March was carried out on April 19, 2021 by NASA Ingenuity Helicoptera prototype designed to determine whether a helicopter could be effective in such a tenuous atmosphere. The small rotorcraft far exceeded mission managers’ expectations, completing a total of 72 flights in nearly three years.

Ingenuity wasn’t designed to function as a full-fledged science vehicle, but NASA’s upcoming Mars helicopters are designed to do just that. “NASA has done an excellent job with the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter,” Al Chen, JPL’s Mars exploration program manager, said in a statement. JPL statement of May 7. “But we are asking these next-generation planes to do even more on the Red Planet.”

JPL teams mounted a three-blade rotor inside the modified chamber, which also blew the blades with wind to simulate flight conditions. They spun the rotor at increasing speeds until its tips finally reached Mach 1.08 without any signs of damage.

Engineers also tested a longer two-blade rotor to Skyfalla mission concept designed to send three next-generation Martian helicopters to the Red Planet in December 2028. The increased length of the two-blade version allowed the rotor to reach the same near-supersonic speeds with fewer rotations per minute. These tests collected data that are being integrated into the SkyFall mission team’s design specifications, according to the same press release.

“The successful testing of these rotors was a major step toward proving the feasibility of flight in more demanding environments, which is critical for next-generation vehicles,” Shannah Withrow-Maser, an aerodynamicist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, said in the release.

The successful tests hint at a new class of Mars exploration vehicles, capable of carrying instruments to terrain that rovers might struggle to reach and orbiters might be too far away to study.