Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab make a breakthrough in rotor technology

Engineer Jaakko Karras inspects a next-generation Mars helicopter rotor blade prior to testing it at supersonic speeds in the 25-foot Space Simulator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in November 2025. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Engineer Jaakko Karras inspects a next-generation Mars helicopter rotor blade prior to testing it at supersonic speeds in the 25-foot Space Simulator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in November 2025. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech The first series of tests used a three-bladed rotor design that could be flown on missions after SkyFall. A second test campaign used the actual two-bladed design that will fly on SkyFall. These blades are slightly longer, so they reached the same supersonic speed at a lower rpm. The faster spin resulted in a 30 percent boost in lift capability. The team pushed rotor tip speeds to Mach 1.08, boosting the Mars vehicle’s lift capability by 30 percent. This breakthrough allows future missions to support heavier scientific payloads, including advanced sensors and larger batteries for extended flight. “We thought we’d be lucky to hit Mach 1.05, and we reached Mach 1.08 on our last runs. We’re still digging into the data, and there may be even more thrust on the table. These next-gen helicopters are going to be amazing,” said Shannah Withrow-Maser, an aerodynamicist from NASA’s Ames Research Center. …