Maybe you’ve flown your drone before and stared up at it while it was taking off and wondered if you could actually fly it into space? Some have even tried—here’s what I found.
A drone has propellers that work by pushing air downwards in order to propel the drone into the air. The Earth has a unique atmosphere where the air gets thinner the higher you go. Because of this lack of air drones can’t possibly make it to space, or fly in it.
Just because drones cannot reach the vast cosmic area that is space, does not mean that they can’t fly very high. Keep reading and find out exactly how high a drone can fly.
How High Can a Drone Fly?
Drones and planes have the same issue and it involves air. Both of these flying machines need air in order to propel themselves up and allow them to change direction using the rotors.
Because there is less air in space, drones and planes would need to generate more power to keep themselves in the air at such a high altitude. Another factor that there is to consider is the temperature, the temperature gets lower the higher you go into the atmosphere and LiPo(Lithium Polymer) batteries don’t do well in low temperatures.
Even though it is not possible to reach space using a drone, that does not mean that you still can’t go very high. In fact, the record for the highest drone flight is held by a You-Tuber by the name of Tollymaster. He did this with a DJI Phantom 2 drone which he took to 11,000 ft. Nowadays drones have limiters that limit the maximum height they can fly to 1,500 ft which is above legal limits but still way below the height this drone reached.
It is illegal to fly a drone over 400 feet in the United States unless you have a special exemption from the FAA, (Federal Aviation Administration.)
Can A Drone Fly in Space?
Drones are amazing on Earth, as they are powered by electricity and are able to move really well thanks to their rotors. However, that technology will not help them in space.
Due to the fact that space is a vacuum and there is no air at all, drones are not able to have the mobility they have on Earth, they will be completely useless.
But it is possible to modify drones to be able to work in space. NASA has been working on technology that will allow drones to work even though there is no atmosphere in space.
NASA has been using drones in space for years in the form of rovers that roam the surface like a motor vehicle. The problem is that these rovers can’t fully explore places like Mars where certain areas are at a certain angles that could immobilize the rover.
Using a drone that flies will eliminate this issue and make it possible to explore more of the planet. These drones would have to be built in a different way with new technology to allow it to fly.
These drones would be powered by gas or water vapor to help with their movement. NASA has plenty of scientists working on finding a solution as well as many private contractors as well.
Spaceflight Now has written an article about a helicopter drone set to leave for Mars on the next rover. The drone is set to be tested on Mars for about 30 days and will have to fly autonomously because of the fact that radio signals from Earth take several minutes to arrive on Mars. If you want to find out more about this new type of drone I suggest you read that article.
One Of The Only ‘Drones’ That Can Fly In Space
The X-37B is probably the closest thing we get to a drone in space by definition, this is if you describe a drone to be an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or UAV for short. If you had a normal hobby drone with a motor, camera and 4 propellers then this does not fit those criteria.
Check out this awesome orbital vehicle in this YouTube clip:
The X-37B was designed by Boeing and is known as the Orbital Test Vehicle and is launched into space using a launch vehicle for assistance, then it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere and lands as a spaceplane.
It was modeled after NASA’s now-retired space shuttle and looks like a miniature version of it. This drone is used to conduct unmanned space missions.
Although not technically classified as a drone, since it operates outside of the Earth’s atmosphere, it can still be argued that this drone and several other spacecraft just like it are unmanned aerial vehicles as they conduct missions by carrying cargo to the International Space Station and have no pilot when doing so.
Drones Exploring The Moon
Drones are capable of many things and continue to prove their worth as a useful tool for mankind. Drones are used as tools for hobbyists like you and me as well as a tool for officials to map landscapes and conduct variuos search and rescue operations.
Drones have not quite reached their full potential at this time. As humans continue to want to explore and go places they have not been able to go before, they have used drones to help them do this. Drones have been used on both the Moon as well as the planet Mars.
The Moon is classified as an astronomical body and rovers have been used to explore the surfaces and interiors of it, but the Moon has a vast area that has yet to be explored with many craters. Drones could help to overcome these obstacles and offer new opportunities for research.
Drones are able to navigate almost any area no matter the tough conditions that might come their way, like craters and steep angles that would normally flip an ordenary rover but a drone will just be able to fly right over these obstacles.
Drones Exploring Mars
Drones use batteries to electrically power motors that spin rotors and that uses air displacement to keep the drone in the air. The gravity on Mars is much smaller than the gravity here on earth which should make it a lot easier for the drone to perform on the planet, right? Wrong.
Even though the gravity is far less on Mars, the planet still has a much denser atmosphere than the atmosphere on our own planet. So the only people that would be able to answer this question for you properly are those at NASA that are trying to develop the technology for a drone to be used on Mars.
For a drone to be used on Mars it needs to be able to provide a lot more thrust with the rotors in order to be able to fly on Mars and solve the atmosphere density problem.
Final Thoughts
We are constantly amazed by the rapid developments that happen in the droning world everyday. Drones have explored every inch of the earth and continue to explore and soon they will be exploring the vast universe. Now all we need to do is wait until NASA finally launches their drone that will be used to navigate on Mars!
