Caped Mars drones: NASA's SkyFall to peer beneath the planet's surface

NASA’s SkyFall mission will send three tiny Mars rotorcraft in 2028 to test a lightweight, flexible radar antenna that looks like a cape. The capes bend during landing and unfold for subsurface scans up to about 5 meters deep, enabling high‑resolution radar images to locate shallow ice—crucial for water, oxygen, and fuel for future missions. Each antenna weighs about 5 ounces, and extensive testing simulates tens of landings to ensure durability. SkyFall builds on Ingenuity’s legacy and is planned to launch aboard the nuclear‑powered Space Reactor-1 Freedom interplanetary spacecraft.