The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

#1

Post by CapitalistCartr » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 4:41 PM UTC

The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly
universetoday.com

Re: The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

#2

Post by jefft255 » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 5:18 PM UTC

I am incredibly excited for this. Can believe how nervous the control engineers must be for this. Not sure what quality of the footage to expect from this.

Re: The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

#3

Post by ayoubElk » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 5:22 PM UTC

Just thinking about the amount of work done planning, creating, and deploying this blows my mind!

Incredible achievement!

Re: The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

#4

Post by undefined1 » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 5:28 PM UTC

thank you NASA (and SpaceX) for being a source of inspiration and hope in a time when it's in such short supply. amazing work!

Re: The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

#5

Post by deanclatworthy » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 5:29 PM UTC

The headline implies it will be soon, but the article doesn't give any information on when the first flight + footage is planned to happen.

Tomorrow, days, weeks?

Re: The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

#6

Post by rwmj » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 5:29 PM UTC

Wikipedia page about the Ingenuity helicopter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingenuity_(helicopter)

I didn't realise it was so large (1.8 kg, 1.2 m diameter rotors). I suppose it has to have the large rotors to be able to generate lift in the thin atmosphere, 1/160th of the density [edit: pressure, not density - thanks Robotbeat] of the earth's atmosphere at sea level according to the article.

Re: The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

#7

Post by johnchristopher » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 5:32 PM UTC

Will there be a live feed ?

Re: The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

#8

Post by lr1970 » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 5:32 PM UTC

I hope that the chopper will not generate an opaque cloud of dust while hovering and am looking forward to seeing spectacular images.

Re: The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

#9

Post by layoutIfNeeded » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 5:34 PM UTC

>One of the most significant obstacles for landing on Mars will continue to present problems for our heroic helicopter now that it is safely on the surface. The atmospheric pressure on the surface of Mars is only about 1% that of Earth. To put that in perspective, the summit of Mount Everest has only one-third the atmospheric pressure of sea level. While this is thought to be at (or sadly in some cases beyond) the limit of what humans can survive, it is well beyond Earthbound helicopters’ range. If you’ve ever wondered why wealthy explorer-types don’t just cheat and take a helicopter to the summit of Everest, that’s why!

Ummm... actually:

>On June 21, 1972, Jean Boulet of France piloted an Aérospatiale SA 315B Lama helicopter to an absolute altitude record of 40,814 feet (12,440 m).[60] At that extreme altitude, the engine flamed out and Boulet had to land the helicopter by breaking another record: the longest successful autorotation in history.[61] The helicopter was stripped of all unnecessary equipment prior to the flight to minimize weight, and the pilot breathed supplemental oxygen.

>The record was broken on March 23, 2002 by Fred North. North achieved an altitude of 42,500 feet (12,954 m) in a Eurocopter AS350 B2.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_altitude_record

Also: Mount Everest AS350 B3 landing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXNXSvnCtKA

Re: The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly

#10

Post by christiansakai » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 5:35 PM UTC

I really really don’t understand the point of doing Mars when we have a lot of things to do on this Earth.