While rovers have been the rage up to now, it seems helicopters may have a role to play as well. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
recently announced it is developing a 2.2 pound prototype to assist rovers with reconnaisance:
Each NASA rover has delivered a wealth of information about the history
and composition of the Red Planet, but a rover's vision is limited by
the view of onboard cameras, and images from spacecraft orbiting Mars
are the only other clues to where to drive it. To have a better sense of
where to go and what's worth studying on Mars, it could be useful to
have a low-flying scout.
Being solar-powered, the little craft will be able to fly only a few minutes a day. But that should be enough to give the rover a better idea about its surroundings. You can watch a
video from JPL discussing the testing of the helicopter given the different environment on Mars.
