NASA will send a Helicopter to Mars in 2020

A helicopter is pretty newtonian in hover. To hover you need to push the same amount of air down through the rotors as the helicopter weighs. So the good news is on Mars you only need to move a third of the weight in air as on earth. The bad news is the air there is extremely thin, so you need more rotor or more rotor speed. Probably both.
I really don't know why this got the go ahead. It isn't as though helicopters enjoy a superb reputation for reliability even under the best of circumstances.
It's bound to be nifty if/when it works, though.

S+F


"The pressure of Mars's atmosphere varies with the season, ranging from 6 to 10 millibars (1 millibar is approximately one one-thousandth of the air pressure at the surface of Earth)."

hypertextbook.com...

The gravity on Mars’ surface is much lower than it is here on Earth – 62% lower to be precise. At just 0.376 of the Earth standard (or 0.376 g), a person who weighs 100 kg on Earth would weigh only 38 kg on Mars.

www.universetoday.com...

Mars dust storms are much different than the dust devils that many people have seen in images sent back from the planet. On Mars a dust storm can develop in a matter of hours and envelope the entire planet within a few days.

www.universetoday.com...

I'm stil on Devon Island when it comes to Mars and Nasa , There have been missions of other organizations to the planet , to my knowledge they all failed (am I wrong). Only NASA succeeds again and again.

If I look at the facts It might be possible to fly a copter on mars but.

1 The mars storms might become a problem. Not because of the intensity but because of the extremely high rotation speed of the blades in combination with the impact of dust particles. Tear and wear on blades must be inmense.

a reply to: RadioRobert
The research started about 15 years ago.

Multi-rotor designs are way recent in comparison and would likely deserve a look but there's a lot of inertia in projects like this.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Vector99

Low pressure aerodynamics are not difficult to model. That sort of thing is part of NASA's name, after all.

Thanks for weighing in, I think it will work. We know enough about Mars, and we know enough about lift.

I really can't see room for failure unless the lander crashes and burns.

a reply to: Vector99

I really can't see room for failure unless the lander crashes and burns.

NASA's success rate has been very good.

So far.

a reply to: Phage

And that kinda gets me giddy. Why? I dunno, it's the same thing we've seen for a decade or so, just higher up.

Maybe it's the cool factor

LOL at people questioning whethere NASA know what they're doing. The OP's video has footage of them testing the 'copter at Mars-like atmosphere pressure in a vacuum chamber.

Discussed in detail here: space.stackexchange.com...

Test footage: www.youtube.com...



The video is from 2015, by the way. They've been working on the helicopter for years.

originally posted by: wildespace
LOL at people questioning whethere NASA know what they're doing. The OP's video has footage of them testing the 'copter at Mars-like atmosphere pressure in a vacuum chamber.

Discussed in detail here: space.stackexchange.com...

Test footage: www.youtube.com...

The video is from 2015, by the way. They've been working on the helicopter for years.

So it's a friggin drone not a Sikorsky.

Helichopper is misleading.

I was right in my questions.

Only problem I see is power.

Solar? Gonna be some problems.

Climate change and all that.

a reply to: burgerbuddy

Solar? Gonna be some problems.

Not a lot of cloud cover on Mars. Dust, maybe a problem.
But Curiosity doesn't use solar.

originally posted by: Phage
Dust, maybe a problem.

If only they had some sort of large, downward-facing fan mounted on top of the vehicle to blow dust off the solar panels...

a reply to: Saint Exupery

doh

(all lower case)

a reply to: scottobereal

I'm sorry, you people actually buy this hogwash?

There are several NASA missions on and around Mars with the 2020 rover being the latest addition to those so yes they can run over to Mars any time they like.

The helicopter is an experiment so if it fails nothing lost but if it succeeds ... to infinity and beyond !

Don't let your ignorance blind you to the wonders happening around you.

a reply to: gortex

What kind of atmosphere does mars?

a reply to: gortex

That is cool...

The one thing I want NASA to do is send a microphone to Mars. I want to hear what that place sounds like. They did this on an earlier mission to Mars but the craft failed to land properly (or had some malfunction and blew up I forget which one).

The crazy Russians have been doing human testing to see if Humans can breath in Mars atmosphere without assistance. Breathing is one thing... Having all the moisture in your lungs boiled off is something else entirely.

a reply to: gortex

This thing must be highly autonomic considering the bad latency you would get via direct remote control.

a reply to: Xcathdra

The one thing I want NASA to do is send a microphone to Mars. I want to hear what that place sounds like.

You and me both mate , how cool would that be in 5.1 stereo.

a reply to: gortex

This thing must be highly autonomic considering the bad latency you would get via direct remote control.

Initially they'll have to program its flights but as AI improves it will likely become autonomous.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Wide-Eyes

Maybe. Three billion or so years ago.

Yep.

a reply to: Xcathdra

The crazy Russians have been doing human testing to see if Humans can breath in Mars atmosphere without assistance.

Do you have more on that? Because it doesn't make sense. There is not even close to enough oxygen for a human to survive.

a reply to: Phage

It doesn't make sense because it is horsepucky.

What they are doing is using argon as an inert filler (like nitrogen in most canned air, but in theory safer because it is inert). There is plenty of argon (and nitrogen) on Mars. That's really all they are testing. Instead of shipping normal canned air (nitrogen filler with oxygen) to Mars on a mission, they are looking at using argon and oxygen mixtures. They could replenish argon, if necessary, on Mars.

We have a lot of experience breathing nitrogen and oxygen mixtures (see: "air"). Not much with argon and oxygen. Hence the testing.