
Nasa proves its space helicopter can fly on Mars - oedmarap
https://www.engadget.com/2019/03/29/nasa-proves-its-space-helicopter-can-fly-on-mars/
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ptha
_While the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) only logged a total of one minute of
flight time at an altitude of 2 inches above the ground, the scientists were
able to get the data they need to be able to say that it will work on Mars.
"The next time we fly, we fly on Mars," project manager MiMi Aung said._

I realise it's just a concept test for future missions, but this doesn't seem
like a particularly rigorous test. I assume they are they under a lot of time
pressure.

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jvanderbot
They (endgaget) were treating that test as the first and last proof. In
reality, that project has been full-speed-ahead with flight tests for a while.

The difference is more like that this is the first untethered, full-flight-
system, full-environment test. The data from which is compared to the huge
batch previous tests with partial systems, w/ and w/o gravity offloads, etc
etc.

Logging a lot of flight time with the actual hardware is a really bad idea,
sort of like "testing in production."

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coldtea
> _Logging a lot of flight time with the actual hardware is a really bad idea,
> sort of like "testing in production."_

We test in staging environments set to mimic production 100% (or as close as
possible) all the time.

After an initial period where they're under development, un-maned aerial
vehicles should obviously be tested a hell of a lot in actual end environment,
with their whole actual hardware, too.

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crispyambulance
It's really cool. I am amazed they're able to fly a helicopter in what is
effectively almost a vacuum to us.

But what about power? How long can a 4lb drone fly? a few minutes?

Presumably there's a way to recharge this thing, but that would require a
base-station with solar or nuclear power source. I am not understanding how
this drone would be effective in a mission!

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gpm
Something I don't think people appreciate is how slowly things move on mars in
general. Curiosity, a huge success, has moved a total of 20.38 kilometers as
of two days ago. That's after 2359 martian days.

It's hard for me to imagine a drone not being effective!

[https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/whereistherovernow/?ImageI...](https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/whereistherovernow/?ImageID=9942)

~~~
mikepurvis
To be fair, though, a lot of that is by choice. What advantage is there in
moving quickly and taking on all of the associated risks when there's lots to
see and do while moving slowly and spending extended periods of time parked at
specifically interesting sites?

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massivecali
By having alternate crafts that can move quickly, we might be able to better
guesstimate if it's worth the time of the slow rover to change course and
investigate a blip on the map. Alternatively, fast craft could fly around and
drop beacons on areas of interest to be investigated at a later time. Beacons
that could be sensor probes returning data of interest.

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pintxo
Side note: anyone tried to change his privacy settings on engadget.com? There
seems to be a lot of bad ux at play.

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StavrosK
Whenever I see the Oath pop up, I just close the site.

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jfk13
Same here. It's way beyond unacceptable; it's atrocious. I hope someone has
the time and energy to pursue a GDPR complaint against them, as at least some
Oath sites are clearly targeted at EU-based users.

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brlewis
> They also had to use a gravity offload system in the form of a motorized
> lanyard that tugged at the helicopter as it hovered above the ground

This sounds like something that could make the helicopter more stable. Could a
physicist please explain why it's still a good test?

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dnadler
They were probably just testing the thrust it puts out in that atmosphere by
measuring the force applied to the tether.

They could also test the stability by trying to maintain a constant force on
the tether (by not simply pulling as hard as possible), but I imagine they
have different ways to test stability.

