Without new landers or rovers, it's helicopters or bust for NASA's Mars program
NASA's cost estimate for SR-1 Freedom is $2.1 billion, but that doesn't include the helicopters.
NASA's Mars exploration program faces a significant challenge as it currently lacks any concrete plans for new landers or rovers. The agency is instead focusing on aerial drones, a cutting-edge mode of exploration that was once considered unlikely. The first application of these drones on Mars will be through the SkyFall mission, a trio of helicopters slated for launch by late 2028.
This ambitious mission will accompany NASA's Space Reactor-1 Freedom project, an endeavor aimed at demonstrating nuclear electric propulsion in deep space. The launch timetable is remarkably tight, given that projects like SR-1 Freedom and SkyFall were mere concepts just six months ago. NASA's budget for SR-1 Freedom, projected at $2.1 billion, involves repurposing the core module from the abandoned Gateway lunar space station as a testbed for nuclear electric propulsion.
SkyFall will build upon the success of NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, the first rotorcraft to successfully fly on another celestial body in 2021.
Written by urgent.news from Ars Technica Science's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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