NASA students successfully experienced a prototype of a tiny drone, which in the future will be able to fly in the Martian sky, sending information about land observations.
Design aircraft was carried out in the NASA Research Center. Armstrong in the city of Edwards, California. On August 11, the first prototype was ready for testing. The wingspan of the drone wings is only 0.6 meters.
"After the first successful flight, we felt a huge relief," said John Bodilski, a student of the Engineering Department of Irvine Valley College in California. "Although we still plan to improve the design. To see that the plane is already working, it was very nice. "
To check the drone performance in the conditions of the atmosphere of Mars, the team attached it to the balloon that raised the device into the sky for 30,500 meters. At such an height, the air is about as thin as in the atmosphere of the Red Planet.
"What we like in such small prototypes and a student program, so these are real research and development of advanced technologies," says Dave Berger , Educational Manager in the Educational Center. Armstrong.
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