The ARES Airplane
The ARES airplane is an unmanned airplane designed to fly in the atmosphere of Mars.
It would travel to Mars folded up. Upon arriving in the Martian astmosphere, it would unfold and start flying without ever landing on the ground. It would be powered by a bi-propellant liquid fuel rocket, and would carry several instruments, like a magnetometer, mass spectrometer, point spectrometer, high resolution camera, and tail-mounted video camera.
ARES stands for Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Survey. Ares is also the name of the god of war in Greek mythology. (The same god is named Mars in Roman mythology.)
The ARES airplane was proposed by NASA's Langley Research Center as a "Scout mission" to visit Mars in 2007. It was one of 20 other such proposals, and ultimately was not selected. (Instead, a lander, named Phoenix, was chosen.) Nevertheless, airplanes continue to be considered for science missions to Mars, Venus, Titan, and other destinations with a flyable atmosphere.
For more information:
- http://marsairplane.larc.nasa.gov/
- http://www.aiaa.org/aerospace/images/articleimages/pdf/AA_Apr06_WIL2.pdf
Author(s): Troy McLuhan (unknown date prior to 2007 December 31)
