NASA Developing Robotic Bees to Collect Samples, Map Mars Surface
NASA’s Mars rovers have gathered a lot of exciting data and photographs, but they’re moving at a snail’s pace. So how will it expedite that process? Robotic bees.
The space agency is developing bee-sized robots to map the surface of Mars and collect samples from the planet’s atmosphere. Scientists hope these insectoids will be more mobile and agile than traditional rovers.
The program, called “Marsbees,” is contracting researchers from the U.S. and Japan to build prototypes of winged robots, capable of swarming the red planet and collecting data, before returning to a rover to recharge.
Image courtesy uah.edu
One of the biggest obstacles engineers face is designing a robot that can fly in Mars’ unique climate. The red planet’s atmosphere can be pretty hostile with dust storms, low thermal inertia, and periodic ice ages. These bees will inevitably face some extreme weather conditions.
But there is one factor that may make the mission easier –  Mars’ gravitational pull is about a third of Earth’s, which could prove to be more conducive to flight.
NASA’s website envisions the robots as roughly the size of a bee, but with larger, cicada-sized wings. Researchers imagine the bees will be capable of working independently or in teams to collect samples.
The program funding the project is called the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program, or NIAC, which fosters science fiction concepts with the potential for realistic applications.
The aerial bots would primarily search for methane emissions from below the planet’s surface – an indication of subterranean Martian life. NASA’s Curiosity rover previously discovered low levels of the gas, encouraging scientists to explore further.
But the technology for this apian concept doesn’t have a lot of promising precedent. Several years ago, DARPA built a hummingbird-inspired drone, with a multi-million-dollar budget. Researchers engineered it to fly steadily, but the winged machine would likely struggle in the Martian environment.
Engineers working on the Marsbees prototype will test their robots in a vacuum chamber, with conditions to simulate the climate and air density on Mars. The group is receiving just $125,000 over the course of nine months to fund their prototype, before it will be tested for feasibility by NASA. If it passes preliminary tests, it will then be eligible for a second round of funding.
About the Author
Randy Cramer: Soldier of The Mars Defense Force
Randy Cramer’s life experiences are either incredible or absurd. He reports that he spent 20 years as a Marine in the U.S. Secret Space Program (SSP). His tour of duty took him first to an elaborate, secret, fully-equipped base on the moon. Then, he went to Mars where he spent 17 years at a military base. After a major loss of human lives during a battle between the military forces and native people of Mars, he was deployed back to the moon where he spent his final three years as a military pilot. He tells his story with vivid and captivating detail.
Randy Cramer: Space Traveler and Mars Colonist
Randy Cramer, who initially told his story under the pseudonym “Captain Kaye,” says he was only four years old when he began training for the SSP through a program called Project Moon Shadow. He was one of approximately 300 girls and boys who were “covertly drafted” to participate in the program. Girls comprised only 20 percent of the group, a male/female ratio that remained consistent during his entire 20 years with the SSP.
Cramer recalls that during his childhood, he would be taken from his bed at night. Even though he would be gone for days or even weeks, he would be returned to his bed and travel back in time to when he was taken. He would wake up as though no time had passed, feeling like he had just had a really, really long dream.
When he turned 17 in 1987, Cramer was involuntarily recruited to be part of the Mars Defense Force (MDF), whose purpose was to protect five civilian settlements already in existence on Mars.
