Review of Key Technologies of Rotary-Wing Mars UAVs for Mars Exploration
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsAlthough the paper is well written with proper organization, I still feel that to step ahead, the authors must improve the following weaknesses.
This work presents a comprehensive overview of key technologies in the development of Mars UAVs, explicitly focusing on rotary-wing UAVs. While I could not find:
1. Propulsion systems and power source (i.e., Hydrogen UAV/ Ingenuity/ Tethered UAV) support for all given experiments.
2. Number and structure of rotors missing in all experiments?
3. Comparison with hybrid wing-based UAVs?
4. A summary table of key technologies for rotary-wing-based Mars UAVs.
5. The following information is suggested as a table:
i. Summary of Mars near-surface atmospheric environment,
ii. Summary of supported aerodynamic characteristics.
iii. Summary of principles of low-pressure flight control.
For all given experiments.
6. Break all long sentences into a meaningful structure i.e., Line#4: Instead of “It summarizes prototypes of rotary-wing Mars UAVs developed by various global research institutions and reviews essential technologies in rotary-wing Mars UAV research, including the Mars near-surface atmospheric environment, aerodynamic characteristics, and principles of low-pressure flight control.” Write: It summarizes prototypes of rotary-wing Mars UAVs developed by various global research institutions. It reviews essential technologies in rotary-wing Mars UAV research, including the Mars near-surface atmospheric environment, aerodynamic characteristics, and principles of low-pressure flight control.
7. Instead of “Consequently, the pressure in the laminar boundary layer located at the leading edge of the airfoil decreases, while the momentum increases, resulting in the cessation of laminar flow in the lower boundary layer and the occurrence of laminar separation [84].” Break the sentence and write: Consequently, the pressure in the laminar boundary layer at the airfoil's leading edge decreases. At the same time, the momentum increases, resulting in the cessation of laminar flow in the lower boundary layer and the occurrence of laminar separation [84].
8. Also, there are some grammatical mistakes i.e., interjections, conjunctions, sentence coherence, and sentence structure. For example, instead of “Mars exploration is of significant importance in expanding human habitation space and exploring the origin of life [3].” Write: Therefore, Mars exploration is important in expanding human habitation space and exploring the origin of life [3].
9. Instead of “Currently, more than 40 Mars exploration missions have been implemented worldwide, with over 80% of these missions failing to achieve their intended objectives.” Write: Over 40 Mars exploration missions have been implemented worldwide, with over 80% failing to achieve their intended objectives.
10. Instead of “In the 20th century, both the former Soviet Union and the United States launched Mars probes but failed to complete their exploration missions [5].” Write: In the 20th century, the former Soviet Union and the United States launched Mars probes but failed to complete their exploration missions [5].
11. Instead of “attracting attention from scholars both domestically and abroad [6,7].” Write: attracting domestic and international attention from scholars [6,7].
12. Instead of “with the current latest version being MCD5.2 [29].” Write: with the latest version being MCD5.2 [29].
13. Instead of “MARV possessed the ability to adjust its attitude in real-time while hovering [38].” Write: MARV could adjust its attitude in real-time while hovering [38].
14. Instead of “Stanford University conducted research on a rotary-wing Mars UAV known as Mesicopter [40].” Write: Stanford University researched a rotary-wing Mars UAV, Mesicopter [40].
15. Instead of “Subsequently, Stanford University’s research efforts focused on the development of sensors, including core components such as magnetometers and gyroscopes, along with their system integration.” Write: Subsequently, Stanford University’s research focused on developing sensors, including core components such as magnetometers and gyroscopes, along with their system integration.
16. Instead of “Harbin Institute of Technology has conducted extensive research on the key technologies of rotary-wing” write: Harbin Institute of Technology has extensively researched the key technologies of rotary-wing Mars UAVs.
17. Instead of “Subsequently, they conducted tests on the lift-to-drag” write: Subsequently, they tested the lift-to-drag.
18. Instead of “Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) initiated the muFly project with the aim of developing intelligent” write: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) initiated the muFly project, intending to develop intelligent.
19. Instead of “This small-scale coaxial rotor Mars UAV is capable of executing flight maneuvers” write: This small-scale coaxial rotor Mars UAV can execute flight maneuvers.
20. Instead of “Their method allows for the prediction of the formation” write: Their method allows for predicting the formation.
21. Instead of “Currently, the control of rotary-wing Mars UAVs mainly involves adjusting the relative” write: Currently, controlling rotary-wing Mars UAVs mainly involves adjusting the relative.
22. Instead of “Due to the fact that in the low-pressure environment” write: Since in the low-pressure environment.
23. Instead of “lift a 10 kg object in a Mars-like atmospheric environment.” Write: lift a 10 kg object in a Mars-like atmosphere.
24. Instead of “Emphasis is placed on the analysis of aerodynamic characteristics”, write: Emphasis is placed on analyzing aerodynamic characteristics.
25. Instead of “Currently, due to the limitations of deep space probe carrying”, write: Due to the limitations of deep space probe carrying capacity.
26. Instead of “Based on a large number of hover performance experimental” write: Based on many hover performance experimental.
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageMinor editing of English language required. There are some long sentences without coherence. Break them all with a meaningful structure. Also, there are a lot of grammatical mistakes i.e., interjections, conjunctions, sentence coherence, and sentence structure.
Author Response
Reviewers' comments:
Reviewer #1: Although the paper is well written with proper organization, I still feel that to step ahead, the authors must improve the following weaknesses.
This work presents a comprehensive overview of key technologies in the development of Mars UAVs, explicitly focusing on rotary-wing UAVs. While I could not find:
Point 1: Propulsion systems and power source (i.e., Hydrogen UAV/ Ingenuity/ Tethered UAV) support for all given experiments.
Reply: Thank you for your suggestions. To enhance our readers' comprehension, the Propulsion systems and power source have been added into Table 3.
Change: The changes are marked as 2, which are highlighted in yellow color on Page 8.
Point 2: Number and structure of rotors missing in all experiments?
Reply: Thank you for your suggestions. In order to enhance the content of the manuscript, the "Number and structure of rotors" has been incorporated into Table 7.
Change: The changes are marked as 7, which are highlighted in yellow color on Page 18.
Point 3: Comparison with hybrid wing-based UAVs?
Reply: Thank you for your suggestion. The technology of rotary-wing Mars UAV is still in its nascent stages. Currently, the NASA Ingenuity, a rotary-wing Mars UAV, has successfully executed flights on Mars. But the application of hybrid wing-based UAVs on Mars is relatively limited, and as a result, no direct comparisons have been made. However, we acknowledge the potential utility of hybrid wing-based UAVs, as suggested by you, in future Mars exploration endeavors.
Point 4: A summary table of key technologies for rotary-wing-based Mars UAVs.
Reply: Thank you for your suggestion. A summary table delineating pivotal technologies applicable to rotary-wing-based Mars UAVs has been incorporated into Table. 8 of the manuscript.
Change: The changes are marked as 8, which are highlighted in yellow color on Pages 18-19.
Point 5: The following information is suggested as a table.
- Summary of Mars near-surface atmospheric environment,
- Summary of supported aerodynamic characteristics.
iii. Summary of principles of low-pressure flight control.
Reply: Thank you for your suggestion. In response to the three suggestions you have raised, a total of four tables have been summarized and incorporated into the manuscript.
Change: The changes are marked as 1, 4-6, which are highlighted in yellow color on Pages 2-3, 10, 12, 14-15.
Point 6: For all given experiments.
Reply: We greatly appreciate your extensive suggestions for addressing the grammatical issues in the manuscript. We are profoundly grateful for your diligent and responsible review of the manuscript, on behalf of all the authors. Furthermore, we have conducted a thorough grammar revision.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsDear Authors,
Thank you for gathering information on the technologies related to the Martian exploration UAV and the technology gaps in that area. You have analysed the professional research centres' projects dedicated to the development of such vehicles. Also, there are open competitions for the Martian UAVs, usually participated by the students' groups, e.g. https://study.gov.pl/news/mars-drone-design-rzeszow-takes-first-place-international-space-competition . As I understand, the size of the paper did not allow for including the results of such competitions. Maybe it would be good to write the next paper summarizing the results of such competitions.
In general, your paper is interesting and can be published, in my opinion.
Author Response
Reviewers' comments:
Reviewer #2: Thank you for gathering information on the technologies related to the Martian exploration UAV and the technology gaps in that area. You have analysed the professional research centres' projects dedicated to the development of such vehicles. Also, there are open competitions for the Martian UAVs, usually participated by the students' groups, e.g. https://study.gov.pl/news/mars-drone-design-rzeszow-takes-first-place-international-space-competition . As I understand, the size of the paper did not allow for including the results of such competitions. Maybe it would be good to write the next paper summarizing the results of such competitions.
In general, your paper is interesting and can be published, in my opinion..
Reply: We greatly appreciate your suggestions. In our future work, we will be summarizing the results of open competitions for Martian UAVs. Additionally, the web address you provided has also been cited in the manuscript.
Change: The changes are marked as 3, which are highlighted in yellow color on Page 8.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
