New Mars-helicopter blade design is modeled for flights up to 18.7 km

Evaluating an airfoil through wind tunnels and simulation

NASA reports that a team involving NASA’s Ames Research Center, Imperial College London, and Nagoya University tested a new rotor-blade cross-section, or airfoil, called roamx-0201. According to NASA, wind-tunnel tests and high-fidelity simulations found better aerodynamic performance and improved recovery in risky flight conditions. The design is not yet ready for Mars.

The source uses Ingenuity’s 0.7-kilometer uninterrupted-flight capacity as the comparison point. It does not establish that roamx-0201 has flown on Mars or replaced an existing Mars-helicopter blade.

NASA reports that simulations and wind-tunnel tests of the roamx-0201 airfoil found improved aerodynamic and stall behavior under the studied conditions. Its modeling indicates that a future instrument-carrying helicopter could cover as much as 18.7 kilometers in one uninterrupted flight.

The reported result links a blade-shape change to two constraints on Mars rotorcraft: drag divergence, a sudden performance drop as rotors approach the speed of sound, and stall, when altered airflow angles sharply reduce performance. The projected distance is a modeled result for future helicopters, not an in-service flight outcome.