project
Make a Paper Mars Helicopter
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover carried the first helicopter to the surface of Mars! This helicopter has to be super lightweight to fly on Mars. It also needs large blades that can rotate really fast so it can generate enough lift to overcome the gravity of the Red Planet and lift off the ground.
In this project, you will build a paper helicopter. Then, just as NASA engineers had to try out different versions of the Mars helicopter before coming up with a final design, you will experiment with the design of your helicopter to see what works best.
Watch the Tutorial
See below for materials and step-by-step instructions. For more video tutorials and activities like this one, visit Learning Space.
Watch en Español: Seleccione subtítulos en Español bajo el ícono de configuración.
In this episode of Learning Space, you'll learn how to build a paper helicopter, then see if you can improve the design like NASA engineers did when making the first helicopter for Mars. | Watch on YouTube