NASA Test Drones For Exploration Mission On Mars

JAKARTA The engineers from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, one of NASA's research facilities, tested three drones to fly on Mars. The test was carried out in the Death Valley National Park.

Through this drone test, the researchers want to develop strong software against the Martian weather. The Death Valley National Park was chosen because its terrain is considered to resemble the Red Planet.

The development of this drone is referred to as Extended Robust Aerial Autonomy. This project is one of 25 projects funded by NASA's Mars Exploration Program last year. Apart from Death Valley, NASA also chose the Mojave Desert as a testing ground.

These two locations were chosen because they have barren and featureless desert dunes. This field was found on Mars and previously confused the Ingenuity navigation algorithm, NASA's dead rover helicopter.

"Ingenuity is designed to fly over a well-structured terrain, but in the end it has to cross a blar area where this becomes difficult," said Roland Brockers, a JPL drone researcher and pilot, quoted from NASA's official website on Wednesday, December 3.

The development of this advanced technology continues to be developed so that the Mars Exploration Program can have future robots that can explore autonomously. These robots are expected to help astronauts carry out their duties while on Mars.

Please note that Death Valley has been NASA's test site since the 1970s. In the latest drone testing, the team visited Mars Hill and Pasir Mesquite Flats in late April and early September.

During testing, researchers obtained a number of new findings, including how camera filters can help drones track the ground. The new algorithm can also guide drones to land safely on messy terrains like on Mars Hill.