Nasa engineers achieve supersonic rotor breakthrough for mars helicopters

Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have successfully tested larger rotor blades that spin faster than the speed of sound without breaking apart. The milestone, announced on Thursday, boosts lift capability by 30 percent for future Mars missions.

The tests took place in a chamber that simulated the thin atmosphere of Mars, where rotor tips reached Mach 1.08. Engineers at JPL and AeroVironment used both three-bladed and two-bladed designs, with the latter matching the configuration planned for the SkyFall mission. A fan inside the chamber simulated headwinds as speeds increased, and the team observed results from a nearby control room.

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Orion spacecraft from Artemis 2 mission has completed its final maneuver before atmospheric reentry, the most critical phase of the journey. Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen face a 13-minute descent at over 40,000 km/h and temperatures above 2,500 degrees, with splashdown planned off San Diego.

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NASA's Psyche spacecraft is scheduled to pass within 2,800 miles of Mars on May 15 to gain a gravitational boost toward its target asteroid. The maneuver will increase the probe's speed while allowing tests of its scientific instruments.

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