prandtl-m
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NASA prototypes a drone aircraft destined for Mars
No, you're not looking at a very sophisticated boomerang -- that may be the first aircraft to fly the Martian skies. NASA has revealed that it's building a prototype for Prandtl-m (Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Land on Mars), a glider drone that would launch from a descending rover and survey landing sites for the eventual manned mission. The two-foot-long vehicle will weigh about 2.6 pounds on Earth, but Mars' gravity will reduce that to 1 pound -- light enough that the craft could travel up to 20 miles after starting at 2,000 feet above the surface.
NASA planning methane-sniffing rocket plane for Mars mission
It's often been said that where there's water there's life, but NASA now looks to be seeing if the same can also be said of good 'ol methane, with New Scientist reporting that researchers at the agency have drawn up plans for a rocket plane that could one day sniff out sources of the gas on Mars. If it's given the go ahead, the plane would parachute down to Mars before being cut loose at an altitude of 1.5 kilometers, when the plane's rockets would kick it send it skimming across the Martian surface. On board sensors would then be able to detect methane at levels as low as a few parts per billion, as well as determine the source of the gas, which some speculate could be living micro-organisms. Of course, there's no indication of when that might take place, with the plane already failing to make the shortlist for NASA's 2011 Mars Scout mission.
