It isn't easy for rovers like Curiosity to travel across the rough terrain of Mars. In September 2014, the mission's team realized the sharp rocks of the Martian terrain had poked holes in four of Curiosity Rover's six wheels, accelerating the rate of wear and tear beyond what engineers had planned. The unforgiving landscape and limited visibility on the Red Planet is a constant challenge.

The Mars rover cannot see a great distance because of the restricted view of onboard cameras. The crew on Earth that operates the rover relies entirely on limited images from spacecraft orbiting Mars. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, has proposed a clever solution: an aerial robot scout. The scout, a Mars helicopter drone, would fly ahead of the rover and communicate possible points of interest, helping the engineers on Earth plan the rover's best driving route. It would also help find the best areas for the rover to collect important samples.

The helicopter drone could also help to plot the fastest route to areas of interest and locate a safe spot to deposit samples that future rovers would collect.

According to a statement by the JPL, the low-flying scout with have two primary goals: "to provide visual information for choosing which sites to explore" and "triple the distance these vehicles currently drive in a Martian day."

The aerial robot scout is currently a proof-of-concept technology demonstration that has been tested at NASA's JPL. The vehicle measures 3.6 feet from blade to blade and weighs 2.2 pounds. The prototype body looks like a medium-size cube-shaped tissue box.

Further testing is needed to ensure the small automaton can handle the harsh environment on Mars. NASA engineers have been testing the drone inside a vacuum chamber simulating Martian conditions.

The helicopter drone project could be worthwhile for NASA if it results in faster mission completion and discovering traits about Mars that would otherwise go unnoticed.

If testing is successful, the helicopter drone would be an add-on to Mars rovers of the future.

Curiosity Rover recently collected samples of ancient sedimentary rocks from Mars that are similar to those on Earth, leading NASA scientists to believe life may have once existed on Mars.

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