NASA is working on the possibility of creating an extraterrestrial aircraft capable of exploring the vast desert of the Red Planet and thus being able to investigate it from above, which would be very useful for our knowledge about Mars.
At the beginning of this year, the agency selected a proposal called MAGGIE (short for Mars Aerial and Ground Intelligent Explorer) as a conceptual technology that deserved further funding.
Now, the aeronautical technology company backing it, Coflow Jet, has released a NASA-approved video showing how the two-winged aircraft could take off towards Mars and eventually begin its flights around the planet.
Why put an airplane on Mars? It makes sense
The interest of NASA is obvious. An airplane to Mars would revolutionize Martian exploration, whether in search of frozen water resources, areas that may have once harbored life, or places to collect scientific samples.
The three-minute video above shows how MAGGIE could be launched from NASA’s new megarocket (its impressive Space Launch System). The animation shows how the spacecraft carrying the rocket’s payload (with MAGGIE inside) separates in space before traveling for eight months to Mars.
After an ambitious descent and landing (reminiscent of NASA’s successful, albeit risky, attempts to land car-sized rovers on Mars), the plane touches down on the desert surface.
The plane takes off vertically, like a helicopter. This is essential in a rocky world, full of craters and without landing strips. To fly on Mars, a MAGGIE plane will have to overcome serious environmental challenges.
And it is that, compared to Earth, the Martian atmosphere is quite thin. Its density is approximately 1% of Earth’s, which makes it difficult to generate the necessary lift for flight. However, the narrow double wings of the MAGGIE plane are designed (conceptually) to produce much more lift than conventional planes on our planet.
The plane is also specially designed for its vertical takeoff and landing capabilities. The propellers are almost always oriented forward, but by rotating the aileron 90 degrees, the airflow from the propellers creates lift.
In the coming years, Zha and his team will continue to expand their Martian aviation proposal. MAGGIE is currently designed with a wingspan of about 7.85 meters, so it could fit and fold inside a large rocket.
We are close to being able to experience the fourth season of For All Mankind and this news only increases the desire to watch the Apple TV+ series.
