XT-S.A.L.O (Extraterrestrial System for Atmospheric flight and Land Observation) has a proposal for a extraplanetary UAV based on a parachute-style wing, focusing on lowering the total weight of the UAS compared to other proposed configurations of extraterrestrial UASs.

An Android App has been developed to manually control the aircraft by means of the inertial sensor of the phone, running a full nonlinear simulation of the flight dynamics in the back-end to account for transmission delay. However, it is intended to fly autonomously. During the hackaton, a scale model was developed and equipped with a custom-developed Python flight controller running on a Raspberry Pi to test the capabilities of the system.

The system is intended to be powered by means of a RTG, producing constant power which will allow the system to remain flying for the whole duration of the mission without the need to refuel or recharge, eliminating the need for takeoffs and landings, the most problematic situations for the used wing design.

We as a team believe that our approach can lower the cost of extraterrestrial planetary exploration and therefore increase the feasibility of this kinds of missions, allowing for a more extensive exploration of the solar system.

Code (with all the used resources listed in it) and more images can be found in the updates tab.