NEW DELHI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (
Isro
) is planning to send a
rotocopter
to Mars, along the lines of Nasa’s Ingenuity quadcopter that recently completed its unprecedented three-year mission during which it completed 72 flights.
Isro’s rotorcraft is still in the conceptual stage. It might carry several instruments, including temperature sensor, humidity sensor, pressure sensor, wind speed sensor, electric field sensor, trace species and dust sensor.
According to several media reports, the planned
drone
is expected to fly as high as 100 metres in the thin Martian air to profile the atmosphere of the
Red Planet
.
Ambitious mission
As a follow-up to its Mangalyaan Mars Orbiter Mission — which reached its end of life in 2022 after spending close to a decade around the Red Planet — Isro is planning an ambitious mission that will see a lander touchdown on the planet and deploy a rover as well as a drone, said media reports.
The UAV will carry the Martian Boundary Layer Explorer (Marble), that will have a suite of payloads for aerial exploration of Mars.
The drone will conduct vertical profiling of atmospheric parameters and perform in-situ measurements in the near-surface boundary layers of Mars.
The Marble mission is expected to provide valuable data to understand Martian weather patterns and the planet’s climate history, crucial for predicting future conditions and hazards, and will aid in planning future exploration missions.
