The Sky-Sailor is a concept for a robotic aircraft with embedded solar cells on its wings, conceived in 2004 by the
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in
Zurich. It is hoped it would be able to study the Martian surface. Sky-Sailor would be an autonomous, solar-powered Mars aircraft that would fly for one Martian day of 24 hours and scan features on the surface of Mars. If this project is funded and developed, it would be able to take detailed pictures of Mars, especially in places where wheeled rovers can not go.
Concept and design
The challenge for the developers was to make a very light weight model, which was accomplished. After that, an autopilot had to be installed so a non-stop
autonomous flight
Vehicular automation involves the use of mechatronics, artificial intelligence, and multi-agent systems to assist the operator of a vehicle (car, aircraft, watercraft, or otherwise).Hu, J.; Bhowmick, P.; Lanzon, A.,Group Coordinated Control o ...
for 24 hours could be achieved. All this was tested with a scale model in a
wind tunnel
Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...
.
Two major challenges for small autonomous aircraft for Mars are to keep the weight down, such as batteries and electronics, and designing the autonomous control systems for directing the flight.
One design consideration is the amount of solar power available over the course of a Martian day, and another is the battery storage capacity and the efficiency and weight of the solar cells. One reason for a small size was to facilitate its transport to planet Mars from Earth.
The Sky-Sailor concept has a wingspan of about 3.2 meters and it weighs approximately 2.5 kilograms.
Aerodynamic
Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dyn ...
studies suggest the power needed for the aircraft to fly at a low altitude is about 13.2 watts.
Test flights
In 2007 a solar powered prototype made two flights totaling 10 hours. With a new battery, in 2008 it flew for 27 hours.
Mission to Mars
If developed, the aircraft would be carried to Mars in a small
aeroshell
An aeroshell is a rigid heat-shielded shell that helps decelerate and protects a spacecraft vehicle from pressure, heat, and possible debris created by drag during atmospheric entry (see blunt body theory). Its main components consist of a heat ...
and that would be attached to a carrier spacecraft. Once the spacecraft has reached Mars, the aeroshell would be directly released into the Martian atmosphere.
In 12 hours it could cover about 1,700 km (1,050 miles) over Mars, with the flight culminating in a crash landing.
See also
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ARES
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Helios Prototype
The Helios Prototype was the fourth and final aircraft developed as part of an evolutionary series of solar- and fuel-cell-system-powered unmanned aerial vehicles. AeroVironment, Inc. developed the vehicles under NASA's Environmental Research A ...
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Mars aircraft
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Mini-Sniffer
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Mars Helicopter ''Ingenuity''
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''Dragonfly'' mission to Titan
References
External links
Sky-Sailor: Solar Autonomous Airplane for Mars exploration
{{Solar energy
Industrial design
Missions to Mars
Proposed space probes
Solar-powered aircraft
Extraterrestrial aircraft
Proposed aircraft of Switzerland