China unveiled a prototype of a Mars probe, netizens immediately disparaged: Blatantly copying NASA’s flying device

China’s National Space Science Center has just demonstrated the test prototype of an autonomous flying device for future missions to Mars after the country just made its historic landing on the planet. Red a few months ago.

But most remarkable is the design of this autopilot – almost identical to NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter robot. Both have a biplane design with two engines located on each stage for vertical take-offs and landings as well as 4 foldable legs. In other words, it almost exactly replicates the flying device that made history as well as NASA when it just made a series of exploratory flights on Mars.

Prototype of China’s experimental flying device

Ingenuity helicopter robot is exploring Mars by NASA.

According to a press release from the China Space Science Center, this Mars rover prototype has been approved and will move to the next stage of development. The ultimate goal of this rover is to probe Mars and pave the way for further Chinese discoveries of the planet.

To that end, the Mars rover will be equipped with a spectrometer to conduct aerial surveys and studies of Mars’ geology. This type of meter has provided evidence of liquid water and methane gas on the planet before.

Andrew Jones of SpaceNews said the flying device is an obvious copy for NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter robot. Perhaps the design of Ingenuity is really suitable for vertical take-offs and landings as well as traveling the longest distances possible on the surface of Mars.

Even so, do not underestimate China’s efforts to conquer outer space. While many years behind the US, China is rapidly catching up with the US in many areas of the space exploration race.

Along with the US, China has also sent probes to the Moon and Mars and is planning to build a new space station, called Tiangong. In addition, China plans to send a crew to Mars in 2033, as well as build a super-large spacecraft with a length of up to kilometers to travel in space.

Refer to Gizmodo