NASA says helicopters flying on Mars mighty glow at dusk
Drones and helicopters flying on the red planet mighty glow as they fly by, creating tiny electric currents in the Martian atmosphere.
That’s according to NASA scientists who say the physics alive to aren’t actually alien; it’s similar to the phenomenon on Earth notorious as St. Elmo’s Fire that’s sometimes seen around well-kept and planes in electrical storms.
“The faint glow would be most visible during evening hours when the background sky is darker,” William Farrell, of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a statement.
Farrell is the lead author of a peep published last year in the Planetary Science Journal. It describes his team’s use of lab measurements and computer models to investigate how the rotor blades of a drone or helicopter worthy build up an electrical charge in a dusty environment like that on Mars.
“The electric currents generated by the fast-rotating blades on drones are too runt to be a threat to the craft or the Martian environment, but they offer an opportunity to do some instant science to improve our understanding of an accumulation of electric poster called ‘triboelectric charging,'” Farrell wrote.
The climate of Mars is remarkably thin and the resulting low pressure invents for more ideal conditions for this accumulation to occur. The team hypothesizes that the currents generated by flying a drone on Mars would be runt but possibly energetic enough to create a blue-purple glow about such a small craft in flight.
NASA already has a runt helicopter named Ingenuity
that’s been making experimental trips from the surface of Mars for the past year, but it’s not able to fly at the sparkling dusky hour.
“Future drones could be cleared for evening flights and look for this glow,” Farrell writes. “In fact, one could even establish small electrometers up near the blade and at the legs to monitor the effects of any charging. This kind of electrical monitor could be of both scientific value and imparted critical input on drone health during the flight.”
Humanity’s interminable wait for Martian glow-in-the-dark drones may finally be over soon.
