MATADOR UAV Would Fly Over Red Planet
Aero-News has learned scientists from AFRL’s Air Vehicles
Aerospace Vehicle Integration and Demonstration Branch, NASA Ames
Research Center, and Naval Research Laboratory met from September
18-20 to perform testing of a Mars Flyer model in AFRL’s
vertical wind tunnel.
The Mars Flyer is an unmanned air vehicle concept that would fly
over the surface of Mars, collecting data and transmitting vital
information about the Mars surface and atmosphere back to
researchers on Earth. It would collect data such as evidence of
water or ice just below the planet’s surface, evidence of
methane related processes in the atmosphere, and the structure and
turbulent behavior of the atmosphere itself. Airplanes over Mars
can be just as useful, in many ways, as airplanes over the
Earth.
While the concept of a Mars Flyer is not new, different designs
and concepts have been tested over the years in an attempt to
determine the best approach for the task.
The latest Mars Flyer concept, the Mars Advanced Technology
Airplane for Deployment, Operations, and Recovery (MATADOR), is a
versatile folding delta-wing vehicle. The MATADOR is designed to be
deployed high above the Mars surface with wings folded in. The
wings would then fold out and transition into horizontal
flight.
The sturdy, folding-wing design allows the MATADOR to deploy
safely through the thin Mars atmosphere with the assistance of
thrusters. It also allows the vehicle to perform a more controlled
landing on the Mars surface, rather than a riskier crash landing,
when its flight is complete. The design saves the need for heavier
vehicle packaging, thereby allowing the craft to carry more fuel or
payload.
During testing, the MATADOR model was suspended in the test
section, subjected to upward-blowing winds reaching 14 to 17 mph,
which simulates the craft’s path through the Mars atmosphere
during the critical first 30 seconds after it emerges from its
aeroshell. This aeroshell will be similar to that used on many Mars
lander missions, including the recent Mars Exploration Rover
mission.
The purpose of the test was to simulate low speed flight,
similar to that which would be encountered within the Mars
atmosphere and to develop flight control algorithms necessary to
transition the vehicle from a vertical descent to horizontal
flight.
The testing allowed researchers to make necessary adjustments to
the craft and to verify computer-simulated data and information
gathered from previous tests.
With the vertical wind tunnel testing complete, the MATADOR
model may next undergo additional wind tunnel tests leading up to a
high altitude flight test, using a helium balloon to tow the
aircraft up to altitudes in excess of 100,000 feet. At these
altitudes, the properties of the Earth’s atmosphere are very
similar to the properties of the thin Martian atmosphere at about
10,000 feet. above the surface.
(Aero-News thanks Holly Jordan, Air Force Research
Laboratory, Air Vehicles Directorate, for the report and
photo.)