The Mars corsair, that self-propelled, solar powered box o’ sensors ‘n things which solemnly inches along the aspect (and battles the fierce surroundings of the red planet may be a buttress of space scrutiny, though it’s positively not a only approach to get a job finished. For instance, the kids during Draper Labs — final seen in this space with their injectable nanosensor — have been in a routine of building vehicles that would (literally) leave traditional rovers in the dust. The Draper Hopper antecedent is written with a ducted fan thrust complement which uses dense nitrogen gas to cover twenty-five miles in the few days or, during best, a few hours. By way of comparison, NASA’s Spirit as well as Opportunity craft have covered rounded off twenty miles since hitting a Martian surface in early 2004. Of march, a hoppers will have to move fuel with them, so their lifespans will be cut drastically shorter than their wheel-based contemporaries, though we’ve regularly believed some-more autonomous vehicles should “live quick / die young,” like Sid Vicious or James Dean. With any fitness, you should see test flights by January 2011.

Via Engadget