It must be light as hell, how can it fly with such a sparse atmosphere?
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It is pretty amazing that an aircraft can operate in an environment where the air is 1% of Earth sea-level atmosphere. Gravity on Mars is about 40% less than Earth’s so that helps a bit. The helicopter weighs about 1-1/2 pounds on Mars.
Pictures of the helicopter blades show a very deep chord, probably to better scoop up that thin atmosphere.
Because of the distance from Earth, this craft, like the rover, are semi-autonomous. Basically they’re given a goal or a flight plan, in this case, and the craft pilots itself along the route, adjusting for any wind gusts, obstacles, etc.
This is a great example of the best sort of achievement humanity is capable of. A nice change from the 99% garbage stories were barged with daily.
Only possible by using that RACIST math !!
First landings on Mars will likely use flying drones for remote investigation now that we know it works.