NASA’s Nighthawk Helicopter Is Ready to Unlock Mysterious Regions on Mars and Find Proof of Life on the Red Planet

NASA is all set to take a massive step forward from the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter and go into the next phase of Mars exploration. NASA's planned Nighthawk Mars helicopter will reportedly focus on a region of the Red Planet that has long been associated with the possibility of life by experts, stated Daily Galaxy.

The Nighthawk Mars helicopter will extensively investigate an area called Eastern Noctis Labyrinthus. The place is known for its striking geological features, which have made researchers cook up many theories regarding the planet's past climatic aspects, like the existence of water, volcanic history, and most importantly possibility of water. The mission was explained in detail by experts at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. The discussion was recorded in a pair of papers.

Nighthawk will have three science payloads, which are the collection of tools present in the spacecraft to analyze evidence from a planet, according to Space. The collection includes OCCAM (Omni-directional Color CAMera system), a color imager containing eight cameras, a NIRAC spectrometer and context camera, as well as a neutron detector which would help in the examination of water features on the planet known as PMWS (Puli Mars Water Snooper).

Nighthawk would reportedly run for around 240 sols (Mars days) and will possibly operate 100 flights in the Mars skies to complete their exploration. The project has been proposed following the success of the Ingenuity drone. Ingenuity operated 72 flights on the Red Planet, which had never been done before. This exercise helped officials collect a lot of important data about the planet.

On the heels of Ingenuity, NASA wants to incorporate an SUV-sized Mars Chopper into its Nighthawk mission. The chopper will reportedly contain six rotors, each of which will have six blades. These rotors would be able to easily fly through Mars' thin atmosphere and bring never-seen-before data. "Nighthawk's science mission would not be achievable with an Ingenuity-class helicopter, but could be accomplished with the larger, more capable NASA Mars Chopper currently under design," the team wrote in the paper. "The Mars Chopper's expected flight range, flight altitude AGL (above ground level), and payload capacity would allow Nighthawk to accomplish its vast range of science."

A science payload of 6.6 pounds will be fitted into the Mars Chopper. This would allow the helicopter to reach 4,920 feet (1,500 meters) above the global average Mars altitude, allowing the mission to access the thin part of the Mars atmosphere and get a better picture of the surface. 

Scientists claim that Nighthawk is better than Ingenuity because the latter was dependent on the Perseverance Rover for guidance. The team claims that the technology used in Nighthawk would allow it to easily move through the interconnected canyons and dune fields present in the Eastern Noctis Labyrinthus. Nighthawk's objective will be to check Eastern Noctis Labyrinthus for any biomarkers and also gauge if it is suitable for future human exploration. The mission would try to characterize the water and volcanic features present at the site, and also explore Noctis Landing, the region's deeply eroded volcano.