ARES (Aerial Regional-Scale Environmental Surveyor)
As a general rule, when NASA flies a scientific mission all the way to Mars, we expect that mission to last for a while. For instance, the Spirit and Opportunity rovers were slated to run for three months and are still operating 6 years later. But one NASA engineer wants to send a mission all the way to the Red Planet that would last just two hours once deployed: a rocket-powered, robotic airplane that screams over the Martian landscape at more than 450 miles per hour.
Continue reading… “NASA Wants to Send a Rocket-Powered, Robotic Plane to Explore Mars”