I ca n’t beelieve it ! Maybe one day there will be bee - similar robots buzzing around the open of Mars .
NASA has selected 25 proposals to pick up funding as part of its Innovative Advanced Concepts ( NIAC ) program . Each awarding add up to around $ 125,000 . But as a website that ’s always been a rooter ofsmall ideas , we quite liked Marsbee , a “ Swarm of Flapping Wing Flyers for Enhanced Mars Exploration . ”
“ With their ability to fly through the radical - downcast - density atmosphere of Mars , Marsbees will enable investigator to gather antecedently unattainable information about the pressure , temperature , and chemical composition of Mars , ” project lead Chang - kwon Kang from The University of Alabama in Huntsville told Gizmodo . “ They can also help in collaborative terrain mapping . ”
Image: NASA/USGS/Ryan F. Mandelbaum
A Mars wanderer could serve as the home base for a drove of these bees , fit in to the NASA release . They ’d be low - magnate and specifically designed for the Red Planet ’s lower - density ambiance .
The research worker are a long way from realizing these fliers — they must first determine the optimal wing design and weight . But they ’ve already estimate that they should be able to use microbe - exalt fender to generate Marsbees ’ lift , Kang told me .
The NIAC projects are essentially windy ideas that NASA is excited to fund , ones that could have a big impact on succeeding NASA missionary work , according to a Jet Propulsion Laboratoryrelease . But swarm robotics itself is n’t a newfangled idea . Scientists havepreviously consideredsimple ant - alike robot for succeeding missions that could extend lots of distance simultaneously .
This is just phase one , and the researchers from the University of Alabama in Huntsville , George Washington University , and Tokyo University in Japan are work to overcome next challenges . The main restriction , say Kang , will be assure the Marsbees use the right power sources — they must be both small andd light enough .
No word about whether we require to beeware of the Marsbees colonize the red-faced satellite before we do , though .
[ NASA ]
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