OT needed - Robot bees on Mars — NASA funding a swarm of drones

From	a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com>
Newsgroups	rec.arts.sf.written
Subject	OT needed - Robot bees on Mars — NASA funding a swarm of drones
Date	2018-04-17 08:21 -0700
Organization	NewsGuy.com
Message-ID	<pb53dc12tqo@news4.newsguy.com> (permalink)

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Robot bees on Mars — NASA funding a swarm of drones to
explore the Red Planet
5 Amazing Things You Can Do with Drones

(Like the sensors in Spoor's "Boundary")

1:04
/
1:52

Robot bees on Mars — NASA funding a swarm of drones to explore the Red 
Planet
The Curiosity Rover has done its share of exploring Mars by land, but 
now, NASA is looking to take to the skies above the Red Planet. A team 
of Japanese and American engineers is hoping to send a team of drones 
inspired by bees, aptly named “Marsbees.”

NASA has granted the innovative researchers funding as part of its 
“Innovative Advanced Concepts” program, which selects a few early 
concept ideas for space exploration to support on a yearly basis. The 
scientists hope that with NASA’s blessing, they’ll be able to create a 
swarm of robo-bees capable of autonomously exploring our neighboring 
planet. The Marsbees would still be dependent upon a rover, which would 
serve as a central command station and a charging port. The rover would 
also download the information collected by the Marsbees, and would help 
transmit it back to Earth.

As for the bee-inspired drones, scientists describe them as “robotic 
flapping wing flyers of a bumblebee size with cicada-sized wings.” These 
disproportionally large wings, Fast Company explains, will help the 
drones compensate for the much thinner atmosphere of Mars (as compared 
to Earth).

But why would bees be better than rovers? According to the researchers, 
having a swarm of flying robots is much hardier than a singular rover. 
If one of the bees falls from the swarm, there will be plenty of others 
who can make up for its absence. Similarly, each bee can perform 
independent of its compatriots, but when needed, would be able to take 
on a team-based mentality to cover a wider swath of the planet. 
Researchers also believe that they’ll be able to program the bees to 
perform as various types of sensors. And of course, the Marsbees’ 
ability to fly will give scientists a new vantage point on the Mars’ 
surface.

But don’t get too excited about this concept. As it stands, it is still 
very much in concept stage. The team still needs to solidify the wing 
design, and determine exactly how these bees will fly and how much power 
they’ll require. Currently, the scientists are testing their prototypes 
in a special chamber that reflects the air density of the Martian 
atmosphere. In later testing phases, they’ll also look into the 
Marsbees’ maneuverability, takeoff and landing capacities, and establish 
a potential mission.

Editors' Recommendations
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Get your Sagan on with 60 awe-inspiring photos of the final frontier


https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/nasa-marsbees-mars-bees/

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OT needed - Robot bees on Mars — NASA funding a swarm of drones a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com> - 2018-04-17 08:21 -0700
  Re: OT needed - Robot bees on Mars — NASA funding a swarm of drones Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2018-04-17 13:24 -0700
    Re: Re: OT needed - Robot bees on Mars — NASA funding a swarm of drones Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2018-04-17 14:23 -0700
  Re: OT needed - Robot bees on Mars NASA funding a swarm of drones D B Davis <g@crcomp.net> - 2018-04-18 00:01 +0000
    Re: OT needed - Robot bees on Mars NASA funding a swarm of drones djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2018-04-18 01:18 +0000
    Re: OT needed - Robot bees on Mars NASA funding a swarm of drones Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2018-04-18 13:01 -0700
  Re: OT needed - Robot bees on Mars — NASA funding a swarm of drones goldfarb@ocf.berkeley.edu (David Goldfarb) - 2018-04-18 05:31 +0000

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