Firefly to build descent aeroshell for NASA’s Mars Skyfall helicopter mission
SkyFall helicopter deployment. Click for original animation.
In a press release yesterday, Firefly Aerospace announced it has won a $13 million contract to build the descent aeroshell that will be used to protect the three Ingenuity-class helicopters being sent to Mars in 2028 on NASA’s proposed Skyfall mission.
The SkyFall aeroshell, comprising both the backshell and heatshield, will be developed within Firefly’s new Gloworks innovation lab and manufactured at the company’s Rocket Ranch in Briggs, Texas. Firefly will utilize advanced carbon composite technologies from its proven Blue Ghost lunar landers, Elytra orbiters, and Alpha and Eclipse launch vehicles to rapidly produce high-strength, lightweight structures.
This press release provides the most details yet about the mission. The graphic to the right is a screen capture from a video from JPL, showing the mission concept. First the helicopters would descend through the Martian atmosphere encapsulated in Firefly’s aeroshell. The bottom half would then drop off, and parachutes would release from above. Once close to the ground, the helicopters would be lowered out of the shell on the frame shown to the right, turn on their rotots, and then be released to fly away and land on their own.
This technique utilizes an entry capsule to release the three helicopters during descent, eliminating the need for a landing platform. The helicopters will then fly to the surface and capture high-resolution surface imagery and subsurface radar data.
We still do not know the chosen landing location on Mars, though the press release mentions a search for water ice, suggesting it will not be in the dry equatorial regions, where almost all landers and rovers have gone, but in mid-latitudes or higher where glaciers and lots of near surface ice has been detected.
The mission is intended after launch to use the nuclear propulsion engines NASA is developing jointly with the Energy Department to get to Mars. I remain skeptical those engines will be ready by 2028.
Hat tip BtB’s stringer Jay.
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I know this is still in the conceptual stage, they need to prove the capabilities before expanding the project. It will be fun to see what they do with it, if they keep them in a group or send them in different directions once they completed their mission in the localized area where they landed.
Personally I’m hoping that they will inflate the parachutes into hydrogen or helium balloons as the package descends, utilizing the stripped down dissent stage as a low altitude platform, suspended in air for close up optical with laser spectrograph imaging, radar imaging, broad spectrum communication, RTG instead of solar panels for circuit heating and balloon lift. Continuous recharging for spent batteries, for faster availability for sending out the helicopters for close-up details as needed. (Atomic batteries usually have an efficiency of 0.1–5%. High-efficiency betavoltaic devices can reach 6–8% efficiency)
A directional propeller can steer the observational platform near the volcanoes so the drones can check out lava tubes, volcanic vents and windows, while the spectrograph is looking for ore bodies, especially in areas of meteor impacts.
Helenais basin may have been violent enough to create radioactive isotopes for nuclear power. Geiger counters on cables to remove them from the proximity of the RTG would be very beneficial.
The main point is exploration of the close surface would be performed in miles per day instead of miles per year. No tires to wear out. Can retreat to higher atmosphere, or to a different latitude to avoid dust storms. The data collected would be overwhelming for years. Discoveries would be daily, and exciting.