SPACE — The Mars probe prototype, MAGGIE will be tasked with searching for water high in the Red Planet’s atmosphere. MAGGIE has just received the first round of funding from NASA in the long process of preparing for flight.
MAGGIE technology will learn a lot from the achievements of Ingenuity, NASA’s small helicopter that was initially sent for just five Mars flights. To date, the flying metal has made 72 takeoffs, and it seems to be still going strong.
However, Ingenuity lost contact with the mission on Earth when it descended from its 72nd flight on Thursday, January 18 2024, yesterday. NASA has not provided the latest information regarding the helicopter’s condition.
After completing five missions, Ingenuity became a companion to the car-sized Mars rover robot, Perseverance. Both search for traces of ancient water and life in an arid world.
Also read: NASA loses contact with the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars
So, if you look at Ingenuity’s success, there is hope that MAGGIE could one day follow in its footsteps and explore the Martian air further.
MAGGIE Specifications
MAGGIE stands for Mars Aerial and Ground Global Intelligent Explorer, a solar-powered craft designed to take off and land vertically. The technical summary states that it can fly 179 km on a single charge.
MAGGIE is able to fly nearly 16,048 km during one Martian year, which is equivalent to 24 months on Earth. Flying 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) above the Red Planet, MAGGIE will focus on three science investigations; the hunt for water, the source of Mars’ weak magnetic field, and the still elusive signal of methane (a sign of life).
“The caveat to MAGGIE is how early this technology is,” wrote the program’s principal investigator, Ge-Cheng Zha of Coflow Jet, LLC in the mission’s technical notes.
Although the concept seems feasible, Zha urges further research under Martian atmospheric conditions that would be less than 1 percent of sea level conditions on Earth.
Also read: China will send a folding helicopter to Mars, take a peek at its specifications and tasks
Zha said the provision of Phase 1 funding from the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program allowed the concept to continue. It also explains that the aircraft will be useful for large-scale surveys one day.
“MAGGIE will revolutionize our ability to explore almost the entire surface of Mars and will attract a lot of public attention because of its boldness and diversity of environments that can be explored, studied and imaged,” said.
MAGGIE funding under NIAC does not necessarily guarantee a flight date for the aircraft. Because, there is another project that NASA is currently focusing on Mars, namely taking samples collected by Perseverance.
2024-01-21 16:10:00
#MAGGIE #Mars #probe #search #water #atmosphere #Red #Planet #Space #Space
