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AnonymousAnonymous
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15 Jul 2021, 10:06 pm

https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2021/07/15/mars-helicopter-future-NASA-Ingenuity/1871626194698/


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cyberdad
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16 Jul 2021, 1:05 am

Surely by 2021 NASA can come up with more efficient propulsion system for a Mars probe than a rotary blade?



naturalplastic
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23 Jul 2021, 7:53 pm

Thats like saying "you would think that Detroit would come up with something more modern than wheels on axels to run cars on in the 21st century". Kinda meaningless.

If Mars had an earthlike atmosphere then the "most efficient" (if by that you mean "energy efficient")way to stay in the air would be lower tech than a copter rotary blade. It would be to use balloons. Maybe a dirigible blimp.. dirigibles need props to move forward (like boats in the air), but not to rise into the air.

But since Mars has an atmosphere only one percent as thick as ours balloons have very little payload if they can rise at all. So they have to use heavier than air aircraft on Mars. Prop blades is still what works in the 21st century.



gwynfryn
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28 Jul 2021, 10:47 am

cyberdad wrote:
Surely by 2021 NASA can come up with more efficient propulsion system for a Mars probe than a rotary blade?



You are hoping for ornithopters, maybe? Frank Herbert was a great writer, but not much of an engineer, I’m afraid.



naturalplastic
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29 Jul 2021, 3:31 pm

gwynfryn wrote:
cyberdad wrote:
Surely by 2021 NASA can come up with more efficient propulsion system for a Mars probe than a rotary blade?



You are hoping for ornithopters, maybe? Frank Herbert was a great writer, but not much of an engineer, I’m afraid.

He was probably thinking more along the lines of the family cars in the Jetson's.



gwynfryn
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30 Jul 2021, 9:15 am

naturalplastic wrote:
He was probably thinking more along the lines of the family cars in the Jetson's.



Funny!