Drones for Planetary Exploration
Creare is working with NASA to develop innovative drones for planetary exploration missions. Our novel ring-wing design enables simple takeoff and landing in vertical flight mode combined with long range flight in horizontal fixed-wing mode. Prototypes are under development for use on Venus and Titan. Recent papers (here and here) described this work in more detail and tests at the MIT Aerospace Controls Laboratory demonstrate the feasibility of integrating the drone with surface landers and airborne sondes.