NASA is testing the next drones that will fly on Mars in Death Valley

The idea of testing Mars tech on Earth sounds a bit wild at first. Mars sits tens of millions of miles away, cold and dusty, with an atmosphere so thin it barely hugs the planet.

Yet the only way to prepare for that kind of world is to work with the landscapes we have here. Engineers head to places that push both people and machines to their limits. California’s deserts are high on that list.

Earlier this year, a team packed up several Mars research drones and travelled to Death Valley and the Mojave Desert.

They needed empty dunes, harsh heat, and rough slopes to stretch new navigation software meant for future Mars flyers.

Testing versatile vehicles for Mars

The project, called Extended Robust Aerial Autonomy, is one of 25 technologies backed by NASA’s Mars Exploration Program over the past year to help robots handle tougher terrain.

Only after a long stretch of work in the desert did the team share why this project mattered. Similar dunes on Mars confused the navigation system on the Ingenuity helicopter during a few of its later flights, including its 72nd and final one.

“Ingenuity was designed to fly over well-textured terrain, estimating its motion by looking at visual features on the ground. But eventually it had to cross over blander areas where this became hard,” said Roland Brockers, a JPL researcher and drone pilot.

The goal now is simple. “We want future vehicles to be more versatile and not have to worry about flying over challenging areas like these sand dunes.”

Death Valley’s history with NASA

These engineers work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. They’ve been studying Mars-like sites for decades.

Death Valley became a training ground in the 1970s, back when the agency was preparing for the Viking landings. An area packed with dark volcanic rock eventually earned the name Mars Hill.

Years later, a component of the Perseverance rover’s landing system was flown over that same park in a helicopter. The region keeps proving its worth.

Mars drone tests in the desert

For the drone tests, the team visited Mars Hill and the Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes in late April and early September. They had one of only three research drone licenses ever issued for Death Valley.

Temperatures climbed past 113 degrees Fahrenheit. The group worked under a pop-up canopy and watched data stream across a laptop as drones traced paths over sand and rock.

The heat wasn’t the main challenge. What mattered was how the drones responded to stripped-down scenery.

The tests helped the team learn how different camera filters can track the ground in bright, flat areas. They also tried out new algorithms that help a drone select safe landing spots in cluttered terrain like Mars Hill.

Death Valley is a living laboratory

“It’s incredibly exciting to see scientists using Death Valley as a proving ground for space exploration,” said Death Valley National Park Superintendent Mike Reynolds.

“It’s a powerful reminder that the park is protected not just for its scenic beauty or recreational opportunities, but as a living laboratory that actively helps us understand desert environments and worlds beyond our own.”

The crew also headed to the Dumont Dunes in the Mojave Desert. NASA tested parts of the Curiosity rover’s mobility system there in 2012, so the area is already part of the agency’s history.

Ripples across the sand gave the drones another taste of terrain without strong visual landmarks.

“Field tests give you a much more comprehensive perspective than solely looking at computer models and limited satellite images,” said JPL geologist Nathan Williams, who previously helped operate Ingenuity.

“Scientifically interesting features aren’t always located in the most benign places, so we want to be prepared to explore even more challenging terrains than Ingenuity did.”

Robot dogs for exploration

Far from California, another team spent part of August at White Sands National Park in New Mexico. That park has supported NASA work for decades.

This time the focus was a robot dog known as LASSIE-M. The robot moves on four legs and senses how the ground shifts under it.

When those readings are combined with other data, LASSIE-M switches its gait to match changes in the surface, whether softer, looser, or more crusty.

The aim is to build a machine that can climb tricky slopes or unstable sand – places where a wheeled rover might get stuck.

A robot scout like this could step ahead of astronauts or other vehicles and carry instruments into areas that would otherwise be off-limits.

Next steps for Mars drones

Yet another group is working on something very different at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. They are building a flying robot called the Mars Electric Reusable Flyer, or MERF.

The robot has a single V-shaped wing with two propellers and can lift off vertically and hover.

A full fuselage and tail would weigh too much for Mars’ thin air, so the design stays simple. While the flyer zips along at high speed, sensors on its underside map the landscape below.

At full size, MERF would stretch roughly as long as a small school bus once unfolded. Engineers have been testing a half-scale version across a field on the Langley campus.

The experts have been studying how the wing shape handles thin-air flight and how lightweight materials hold up under stress.

With projects like new power systems, sample-collection tools, and advanced autonomous software also in the mix, it’s clear NASA has many ways to expand how Mars can be explored.

Robots that fly farther, climb better, and think for themselves may someday help astronauts work faster and safer on another planet.

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