Will there be an earth-shattering kaboom?
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Git to da choppa!
Yep. Helicoptering on Mars is hard.
Most copters here on earth top out at about 40k feet (12km) — above that, the air’s too thin. Martian surface pressure is about equivalent to 100k feet (30km) in earth’s atmosphere.
It will be small and fanatically lightweight JPL-style (about 2 kg total , I think), the rotors will spin verrrrry fast (30k rpm), and flight duration will be extremely limited — just enough to pop up, take a look over the next ridge, and pop back down again.
The atmosphere on Mars is usually just thick enough to be annoying, but not thick enough to be be terribly useful. (-:
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I was thinking more the Redneck Martians.
One really should investigate the ‘rituals’ listed in the article. For example, this one: On the day of launch, NASA astronauts eat eggs and steak in tribute to Alan Shepard.
Per Mary Roach’s book “Packing for Mars”, the original reason for the “eggs and steak” pre-launch meal had to do with NASA’s early research into meals that would produce the smallest amount of ‘byproduct’ (aka feces). Being protein rich, eggs and steak filled the bill.
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Areologists, actually.
American Football, or rest of the world Football?
Nuclear football.
I’m pretty sure American vs everyone else’s football’s have about the same longest dimension.
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Quad copter are very cheap to build because the balancing and steering is all electronic. But if you’re sending an aircraft to Mars, the cheapest design is not going to be the best design. They’re cheap to build but they’re not terribly efficient. Counter rotating blades is still simpler than conventional choppers, without taking a huge hit in efficiency. (I am not an aeronautical engineer, I hope one of those guys will tell me I’m wrong)
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