- AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) has been awarded a $10M contract by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to co-design and co-develop conceptual designs and engineering development units of Mars Sample Recovery Helicopter flight systems.
- The two planned Sample Recovery Helicopters would be a secondary method of sample retrieval for the NASA/ESA Mars Sample Return Campaign.
- “Accomplishing the impossible has been AeroVironment’s mission for more than 50 years and we are excited to be working with the NASA JPL team again to conquer the next challenge. Ingenuity’s flights on Mars are a giant leap for robotic technology. Now we’re advancing this science further by helping to build helicopters that not only will continue flight on Mars, but also will include apparatus to collect samples to bring back to Earth for this historic mission.” said Scott Newbern, AeroVironment’s vice president and CTO.