
Mars Aerial and Ground Global Intelligent Explorer or MAGGIE is a proposed compact, autonomous, fixed wing,
vertical take-off/landing (VTOL),
electric aircraft
An electric aircraft is an aircraft powered by electricity.
Electric aircraft are seen as a way to reduce the environmental effects of aviation, providing zero emissions and quieter flights.
Electricity may be supplied by a variety of methods, ...
powered by
solar energy
Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's sunlight, light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is a ...
. It is designed to operate on
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
. Range with a fully charged battery would be at an altitude of 1,000 meters. The aircraft features
solar cell
A solar cell, also known as a photovoltaic cell (PV cell), is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by means of the photovoltaic effect. s on its wings and fuselage. The total range per Martian year would be – more than twice the circumference of Mars. Mars' atmosphere density is 6.35
mbar
The bar is a metric unit of pressure defined as 100,000 Pa (100 kPa), though not part of the International System of Units (SI). A pressure of 1 bar is slightly less than the current average atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea ...
, 160x thinner than
Earth's atmosphere
The atmosphere of Earth is composed of a layer of gas mixture that surrounds the Earth's planetary surface (both lands and oceans), known collectively as air, with variable quantities of suspended aerosols and particulates (which create weathe ...
at 1013.2 mbar. During the
southern winter, the global atmospheric pressure on Mars is 25% lower than during summer, because some atmospheric freezes on the
Martian polar ice caps
The planet Mars has two permanent polar ice caps of water ice and some dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide, CO2). Above kilometer-thick layers of water ice permafrost, slabs of dry ice are deposited during a pole's winter, lying in continuous darknes ...
. MAGGIE has a cruise
lift coefficient
In fluid dynamics, the lift coefficient () is a dimensionless quantity that relates the lift generated by a lifting body to the fluid density around the body, the fluid velocity and an associated reference area. A lifting body is a foil or a co ...
CL of 3.5, nearly an order of magnitude higher than conventional
subsonic aircraft
A subsonic aircraft is an aircraft with a maximum speed less than the speed of sound (Mach 1). The term technically describes an aircraft that flies below its critical Mach number, typically around Mach 0.8. All current civil aircraft, including ...
, to overcome the low density of the Martian atmosphere. MAGGIE's cruise
Mach number
The Mach number (M or Ma), often only Mach, (; ) is a dimensionless quantity in fluid dynamics representing the ratio of flow velocity past a boundary to the local speed of sound.
It is named after the Austrian physicist and philosopher Erns ...
is 0.25. Mach speed on Mars is at "
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...
", so cruising speed would be around at elevation.
In January 2024, MAGGIE was one of thirteen proposals approved for Phase 1 funding by the
NIAC.
Missions
* Study
Martian core dynamo origin and timing from the weak magnetic fields found in the
large impact basins.
* Investigate the source of
methane
Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...
signals detected by the
Tunable Laser Spectrometer on the
Mars Science Laboratory
Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, which successfully landed ''Curiosity (rover), Curiosity'', a Mars rover, in Gale (crater), Gale Crater on Augus ...
in
Gale crater
Gale is a crater, and probable dry lake, at in the northwestern part of the Aeolis quadrangle on Mars. It is in diameter and estimated to be about 3.5–3.8 billion years old. The crater was named after Walter Frederick Gale, an amateur a ...
.
* Map
subsurface water ice at high resolution in the mid-latitudes.
See also
*
Aerobot
*
Exploration of Mars
The planet Mars has been explored remotely by spacecraft. Uncrewed spacecraft, Probes sent from Earth, beginning in the late 20th century, have yielded a large increase in knowledge about the Martian system, focused primarily on understanding G ...
*
Exploration geophysics
Exploration geophysics is an applied branch of geophysics and economic geology, which uses physical methods at the surface of the Earth, such as seismic, gravitational, magnetic, electrical and electromagnetic, to measure the physical properties o ...
*
''Ingenuity'' helicopter
*
Google Earth
Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...
/
Google Mars
*
Mars aircraft
*
NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts
The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC), formerly NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC), is a NASA program for development of far reaching, long term advanced concepts by "creating breakthroughs, radically better or entirely new aerospa ...
*
Solar-powered aircraft
*
Mars Piloted Orbital Station
References
{{Mars spacecraft, state=collapsed
Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
Proposed spacecraft
Exploration of Mars
Astronautics
*
NASA programs
Futures studies organizations