NASA's Ames Research Center's Kitty Hawk 3 project team has validated the aerodynamic performance of a small 1.2m-long prototype Mars aircraft called Orville.
The converted 2.4m wingspan NASA 731 remote-controlled glider was dropped from a helium-filled balloon 101,000ft (30,800m) above Oregon.
The Orville test followed the low-altitude flight of another vehicle, a NASA 729 glider called Wilbur, last month.
California-based ARC has been working on a Mars Airplane concept for several years. The spacecraft would arrive at Mars as a piggyback payload on an orbiter/lander, as a fuselage with folded wings and a rear-mounted propeller.
After deployment, it would be able to fly in Mars' carbon dioxide atmosphere, equipped with an array of science instruments including a high-resolution camera.
ARC plans to develop a scale model of the final design and test it in the Earth's atmosphere.
Source: Flight International
