HAMPTON, VIRGINIA -- They are tiny but talentedand not the bug-eyed Martians of sci-fi fare.
Clear the air for the entomopter!
This beast of burden may carry out flight duties flapping smartly through the thin, carbon dioxide-laden atmosphere of Mars. Billed as a revolutionary new class of refuelable robotic flying machine, aerospace engineers envision a fleet of the patented mechanical insects fluttering over Mars' surface, each toting scientific sensors from spot to spot. [
. Future human explorers might also unleash such devices to relay back an eagle eye's view of landscape yet to be traversed.The entomopter joins a growing list of take-to-the-air hardware likely headed for Mars. Gliders, propeller-driven aircraft, hoppers, and balloons are all under review for possible 21st century assignments on the red planet.
Creative minds
The flapping wing entomopter is under development by a team of researchers, with support from the
in Atlanta, Georgia.Robert Michelson is a principal research engineer on the concept at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) in Smyrna, Georgia. He explains that the term, entomopter, is a splash of entomology -- the scientific study of insects -- with a twist of helicopter mixed in -- giving rise to a flying insect machine.
"It was something that was the product of creative minds. It came naturally," Michelson told SPACE.com here at a recent meeting on human and robotic exploration of the solar system.
Anthony Colozza, who coordinates entomopter work at the Ohio Aerospace Institute in Cleveland, reports that the device is an innovative approach to small aircraft flight on Mars. "An entomopter is a flying vehicle that generates lift in a fashion similar to that of an insect," he said.
Colozza said the idea is based on work underway for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). That agency is supporting the development of micro-aircraft with flight characteristics like those of insects, not for use on Mars but in battleground situations on Earth for reconnaissance and surveillance, he noted.
"The characteristics of entomopter flight do allow the vehicle to operate efficiently within the low density atmosphere of Mars," Colozza said.
A Mars entomopter would sport a little over 3-foot wing span (1 meter), and haul up to 33 pounds (15 kilograms) of payload. It can become a valuable tool for science gathering on the fly, as well as on the surface surveying - buzzing about the planet in ways impossible for other robots to mimic, he said.
Next Page: Why flapping wings?
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