Liked on YouTube: Explore Mars Using Nanocardboard Aircraft!

Explore Mars Using Nanocardboard Aircraft!
From initial plans, to the details of this new revolutionary project, and more! Join me as we explore how to Explore Mars Using Nanocardboard Aircraft! Subscribe for more videos:https://www.youtube.com/c/InsaneCuriosity?sub_confirmation=1? Mars is a planet that has a lot of people's attention in regards to the decade we now find ourselves in. Mainly because we're aiming to go and colonize Mars within the next ten years barring setbacks. NASA and SpaceX are already setting up plans that could launch as early as 2024-2025 (again, barring setbacks). But, even if initial colonization plans are successful, that still leaves a rather substantial problem in that we honestly don't know everything about Mars, even on the surface level. But next experiments and plans may just change that. This summer, NASA will launch its newest Mars rover, Perseverance, and a helicopter that will fly over the planet's surface as part of a "high-risk, high-reward" experiment. But even before its launch, researchers are designing much more ambitious aircraft for Mars as well. Of particular interest are flying aircraft that could, with less risk, more effectively observe and study Mars' surface. In a new study, researchers have demonstrated the abilities of a unique fleet of aircraft that could thrive on Mars: tiny "nanocardboard" flying vehicles. These aircraft each weigh about a third of a milligram, or less than a fruit fly, and have no moving parts. Instead of flying with wings or rotating blades, they actually levitate. I know this sounds very much like a "sci-fi dream", but the technology is actually a bit further along than you would expect it to be. And many people are very intrigued by how this could help them explore Mars on a grander scale. "The Mars Helicopter is very exciting, but it's still a single, complicated machine," lead author Igor Bargatin of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania, who is not involved in the Mars Helicopter, said in a statement. "If anything goes wrong, your experiment is over, since there's no way of fixing it. We're proposing an entirely different approach that doesn't put all of your eggs in one basket." Each tiny flyer is a plate of "nanocardboard," which is inspired by paper cardboard's corrugations, or ridges. Plates of "nanocardboard" are hollow aluminum oxide a few nanometers thick with ridges made by a pattern of micro-channels on the plates that keep them stiff and unbroken. The micro-channels in the "nanocardboard" plates are actually the secret behind their unique method of flight, according to the statement: The channels create a temperature gradient that pushes air through the hollow plates and allows them to float. This strange method of flight would be particularly advantageous on Mars because the planet's thin atmosphere and weaker gravity would allow the plates to lift more weight and travel over much longer distances than here on Earth. Additionally, Bargatin is working with other researchers to develop new, tinier chemical sensors that could collect important data and detect substances like methane and water on other planets, according to the statement. "In addition to carrying sensors," Bargatin said, "our flyers could simply land and have grains of dust or sand passively stick to them, then transport them back to the rover so it doesn't need to travel as far." As if all of that wasn't enough, Bargatin also suggested in the statement that fleets of these tiny flyers could be used to study our own planet's atmosphere — specifically, the mesosphere. "The Earth's mesosphere is pretty similar to the Martian atmosphere in terms of density, and we currently don't have anything that flies there, since it is too low for space satellites but too high for airplanes and balloons," Bargatin said. "Ideally, you'd like to have some sensors up there as well. The more knowledge you have about the movement of the atmosphere at that level, the better predictions you can make about Earth's climate and even weather." At this point, you're likely wondering why such effort is being put into studying Mars via machines when we potentially will be there within 10 years and able to explore it ourselves with a bit more effectiveness. But that's the trick, we honestly won't be able to explore it with great effectiveness when we get there. At least, not at first. You need to remember that the first true colony on Mars is going to be nothing more than a research base of sorts. A bare bones operation in order to make sure that people could survive on Mars and setting things up for the future. #InsaneCuriosity#RecentSpaceDiscoveries #MarsEverythingAbout
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