Mars STOL Aircraft

I had previously proposed a flying aircraft for Mars. Daniel Riley’s YouTube video on “Blown Wing STOL Plane” inspired me for a new design. Daniel had proposed hidden air blowers inside the wings to increase Coandă effect and enable STOL (short takeoff and landing). In my design, air entering from the intakes below the wing will be accelerated by the heat of Plutonium 238. Mars atmosphere is mainly carbon dioxide that has the highest vapor pressure of any gas. This improves the efficiency of the system. The forward thrust will be achieved by Plutonium 238 powered Carnot engines that drive the duct fans. Air blown on the wings reduces the takeoff and stall speed for the plane. Therefore, the heat generated by the Plutonium 238 isotope would be enough the fly the plane.

The aircraft will have bicycle like spoked wheels. These will enable the plane to accelerate on the ground and protect the wings in case of crash. The wheels should be elastic enough to return to their original shape after impact. The central wheels will have the spokes covered. They will double as vertical stabilizers during flight. The wheels will have larger diameter than the wings to protect them against the surface rocks. Plutonium will produce continuous thrust which will keep the wings in the horizontal orientation even on the ground. The plane will navigate on the ground using this thrust. The maneuvering will be achieved using differential thrust.

The small fuselage of the plane will contain the central control unit and the scientific research bay which is powered by Plutonium 238.

Mars STOL aircraft will be deployed to Mars inside a cylindrical capsule, an ideal shape for a space payload. The capsule will have four engines to slow down the capsule after entering the Mars atmosphere. The propellant tanks will be placed inside the empty spaces between the wings and the wheels. Once the propellant is depleted, the aircraft will be released from the capsule to let it fly by itself. The empty capsule will than crash on Mars.