Mars Exploration Helicopter Space Exploration & Science Missions NASA

NASA Tests Ground-Penetrating Radar for SkyFall Mars Helicopters to Detect Subsurface Ice

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has completed initial tests of a lightweight radar antenna for the proposed SkyFall mission, which would deploy three small helicopters on Mars. The ground-penetrating radar is designed to study the planet’s subsurface from the air and identify deposits of frozen water.

Discovered 2026-08-07T06:15:00.796239-07:00 | 2026-08-07T06:15:00.796239-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

SkyFall would add an airborne subsurface-sensing capability to Mars exploration, using three small rotorcraft equipped with ground-penetrating radar.
Detecting subsurface frozen water could provide strategically important data for future Mars science and exploration planning.
The lightweight antenna testing marks an early technology-development step toward integrating radar onto future Mars helicopters.

Reported By

Space.com astrospace.it dailygalaxy.com Leonard David