Engineers design albatross-inspired, wind-powered Mars sailplane

Engineers at the University of Arizona are designing a motorless sailplane to learn more about Mars' atmosphere and geology. The sailplane can soar over the Martian surface for days at a time, using only wind energy for propulsion, the researchers claim.

Alexandre Kling, a research scientist in NASA's Mars Climate Modeling Center, has partnered with the team to develop the Mars sailplanes that would weigh only 11 pounds each and will be equipped with flight, temperature and gas sensors as well as cameras to gather information about the Martian atmosphere.

The team recently conducted a tethered launch of an early version of the sailplane, in which it descended slowly to Earth attached to a balloon.

According to the researchers, the Mars sailplanes will use several different flight methods, including simple static soaring when sufficient vertical winds are present. They can also utilize a technique called dynamic soaring, which, like an albatross on a long journey, takes advantage of how horizontal wind speed often increases with altitude – a phenomenon particularly common on the Red Planet.

As per the press release, when the sailplane changes directions, it also begins changing altitude - and rather than slow the sailplane down, the manoeuvre helps it gain speed. The planes fly at a slight upward angle into the slow-moving, low-altitude wind. When they reach the faster, high-altitude wind, they turn 180 degrees and let the high-speed wind power them forward at a slight downward angle. When they start to run out of energy from the high-speed wind, they repeat the process, weaving their way forward. With this nimble manoeuvring, the sailplanes can continually harvest energy from the atmosphere, flying for hours or even days at a time.

The researchers propose sending the sailplanes to Mars as a secondary payload on a larger mission. The team hopes NASA will fund the mission and allow it to "catch a ride" on a large-scale Mars mission already in development.