Inspired by the flight of the albatross, a team of researchers and space experts have designed the sailplane that could fly on Mars. The team aims to use the sailplane to analyse the Red Planet’s atmosphere and geology.
"You have this really important, critical piece in this planetary boundary layer, like in the first few kilometres above the ground," said Alexandre Kling, a research scientist in Nasa's Mars Climate Modeling Centre.
"This is where all the exchanges between the surface and atmosphere happen. This is where the dust is picked up and sent into the atmosphere, where trace gases are mixed, and where the modulation of large-scale winds by mountain-valley flows happens. And we just don't have very much data about it."
At the moment, there are eight active spacecraft orbiting Mars, gathering imagery of the planet's surface at a resolution of about one foot per pixel. Meanwhile, three rovers traverse the ground, mapping...