NASA has tested a lightweight radar antenna designed for future Mars helicopters, preparing a new way to study the Red Planet from the air. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA’s JPL) has tested a lightweight radar antenna designed for the future SkyFall Mars helicopter missions, a technology step that could allow aerial vehicles to investigate the Martian surface in new ways. A radar engineer works on a test antenna for the SkyFall mission’s ground-penetrating radar in the electromagnetic interference chamber at JPL. How Aerial Radar Could Expand Mars ExplorationA helicopter equipped with radar could provide scientists with a different perspective on Mars. The development of the SkyFall radar antenna shows how mission designers are adapting spacecraft technology for new forms of planetary exploration.