NASA researchers are working to design a robotic bee that can fly on Mars. The idea is to replace modern rovers, which are slow, bulky and very expensive, with swarms of sensor studded, fast-moving micro-bots that can cover much more ground at a low cost.
Called Marsbees, the little bots are “flapping wing flyers of a bumblebee size with cicada-sized wings”. The largest species of bumblebee grows to 1.6 inches; Cicada wings can vary from 1.2 inches to more than double that length.
Marsbees will not only map the Martian terrain but also collect samples of the planet’s thin air, in hopes of finding methane gas- a possible sign of life.
Picture Credit : Google
