Flying nanocardboards to explore Mars

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Next summer, the Mars 2020 mission will begin, which will launch the "Perseverance" robot with characteristics similar to "Curiosity" and that will presumably be martedized in February of next year.

This vehicle incorporates a novelty, a coupled helicopter that will launch once Persevenrance has landed and an ideal area for takeoff is found.

The helicopter is equipped with a double rotor and will not carry any other device, as its purpose is to check the viability of this type of rotor, as it will be the first vehicle to fly on another planet.

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But for a group of engineers at the University of Pennsylvania, this seems too complicated given the risks of extraterrestrial flight.

These engineers aim to create a fleet of small aircraft that weigh as much as a fruit fly and have no moving parts, they are simple nano-cardboard plates that levitate when they receive light.

As one side of the plate warms up, the temperature difference causes air to circulate through its hollow structure and shoot out through the corrugated channels that give it its name, pushing it off the ground.

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The air flow through these micro-channels is caused by a classic phenomenon called 'heat drag', which is a rarefied gas flow due to the temperature gradient along the channel wall.

A study published in the journal Advanced Materials shows that the thinner atmosphere and lower gravity on Mars would give vehicles enough momentum to carry payloads ten times more massive than they.

More information:
https://noticiasdelaciencia.com/art/37805/nanocartones-voladores-para-explorar-marte
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adma.201906878
https://www.space.com/mars-nanocardboard-flying-aircraft-helicopter.html

Versión en español