A swarm of robot bees designed to explore the surface of Mars is being developed by Nasa.

The space agency has given funding to Marsbees, a project that is working on an efficient way to get around the Red Planet by air. Dr Chang-kwon Kang, one of the researchers behind the initiative, said these "robotic flapping wing flyers of a bumblebee size" could "significantly enhance the Mars exploration mission".

The tiny robots would be fitted with sensors and wireless communication devices, and would use a Mars rover like Nasa's Curiosity as a charging point.

While earthbound rovers can provide scientists with lots of useful information, their progress tends to be slow.

The Marsbee robots on the other hand could travel quickly across the planet's surface, beaming information back to the rover, which would also act as the main communication centre.

Preliminary results from Dr Kang and his team at the University of Alabama suggest their robots' insectlike design would allow them to hover in the Martian atmosphere, even though it is far thinner than the one found on Earth.