Aerial Drone To Hunt For Life On Mars

Posted by Soulskill on Monday November 15, 2010 @09:06AM from the care-for-some-martian-venison dept.

astroengine writes "What if the Martian terrain is too rugged for a rover to traverse? How do we study surface features that are too small for an orbiter to resolve? If selected by NASA, the Aerial Regional-Scale Environment Surveyor (ARES) could soar high above the Martian landscape, getting a unique birds-eye view of the Red Planet. Its primary mission is to sniff out potential microbial-life-generating gases like methane, but it would also be an ideal reconnaissance vehicle to find future landing sites for a manned expedition. Prototypes of the rocket-powered drone have been successfully flown here on Earth, so will we see ARES on Mars any time soon?"

1 of 152 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Re:the Mars Vault was the toughest yet... by c6gunner · 2010-11-15 10:04 · Score: 0, Troll

Yeah, a new study just came out which shows that long-term iPhone usage causes genital warts and severe rectal bleeding, so the fanboys are trying to bury the news.
Wassat? You hadn't heard about the study? SEE, they're SUCCEEDING!