Overview
- NASA released images and data showing a new Mars helicopter rotor’s tips exceeded the speed of sound without breaking apart.
- The team used JPL’s 25-Foot Space Simulator, filling it with carbon dioxide to mimic Mars, then spun a three-bladed rotor and added wind to push the tips past Mach 1.
- Engineers reached Mach 1.08 in 137 runs and measured about a 30% boost in lift, which supports larger batteries and science instruments on future flights.
- A vertically mounted two-bladed rotor supplied a controlled headwind, the main rotor hit up to 3,750 rpm, and the hardware was built by AeroVironment in California.
- NASA’s Mars Exploration Program funded the work, JPL manages the program for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate, and findings are feeding into the planned SkyFall rotorcraft effort.