5 ms·
Plus, no matter what you do you're still working in an environment where the very dust itself is an abrasive finer than anything found on Earth, able to work it
by TheRealPomax 3y ago
Plus, no matter what you do you're still working in an environment where the very dust itself is an abrasive finer than anything found on Earth, able to work its way into every single part of your rotor assembly. You're basically designing for "how many days can we keep it working" rather than "can we make it Mars-proof".
- colechristensen 3y agoTo be fair, all helicopters have parts with expiration dates. This is just how you have to design them, a part gets this many operating hours and is then replaced.
- Teever 3y agoIs the dust in Mars really that abrasive? I was under the impression that it isn't nearly as bad as the stuff on the moon where there's no at atmosphere to cause the wind erosion that wears the rough edges of surface material down.
- Filligree 3y agoIt’s still abrasive, even if not as bad. A helicopter on the moon would have an even harder time working.
- TeMPOraL 3y agoPerhaps we can use Moon dust to our advantage: kick a thick enough cloud of it, and the helicopter will have something to fly in.
- bigallen 3y agoIt’s probably better to repurpose the energy of the kick than to push off what has been kicked up
- skykooler 3y agoEspecially considering there's no air for a helicopter's blades to act on.
- dsq 3y agoThat can have an effect, ha!
- Teever 3y agoYes, it's dust, so it's abrasive. The question is whether or not it is more abrasive than Earthly dust.