Work

Survey on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Mars Exploration: Deployment Use Case

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: In recent years, the area of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) has seen rapid growth. There has been a trend to build and produce UAVs that can carry out planetary exploration throughout the past decade. The technology of UAVs has tremendous potential to support various successful space mission solutions. In general, different techniques for observing space objects are available, such as telescopes, probes, and flying spacecraft, orbiters, landers, and rovers. However, a detailed analysis has been carried out due to the benefits of UAVs relative to other planetary exploration techniques. The deployment of UAVs to other solar bodies has been considered by numerous space agencies worldwide, including NASA. This article contributes to investigating the types of UAVs that have been considered for various planetary explorations. This study further investigates the behaviour of UAV prototypes on Mars’ surface in particular. It has been discovered that a prototype UAV flight on Mars has a higher chance of success. In this research, a prototype UAV has been successfully simulated to fly on Mars’ surface. This article discusses the opportunities, challenges, and future scope of deploying UAVs on Mars.

Source: Drones

DOI: 10.3390/drones6010004

Authors: Manjula Sharma, Akshita Gupta, Sachin Kumar Gupta, Saeed Hamood Alsamhi, Alexey V. Shvetsov

Institutions: Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest, Ibb University, North-Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok State University

Language: English

Topic: Planetary Science and Exploration

Subfield: Space and Planetary Science

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,512

Funders: European Commission, European Regional Development Fund