Mars Helicopter (before it went to Mars)
Mars Helicopter (before it went to Mars) on HackerTube: recommended by 10 Hacker News commenters across 4 separate months, 2020–2021.
Veritasium's Derek Muller visits NASA JPL to see the Mars helicopter Ingenuity before it was mounted on the rover. He explains how it can fly in Mars's thin atmosphere with large, fast-spinning contra-rotating rotors and low mass, and covers power and cold.
What HN commenters said
14 Hacker News comments link this video. Each one links back to its thread.
kibwenFeb 2021Strongly recommends
Here's a really excellent video that answers all your questions: ▶ this video TL;DW: Martian atmosphere is so sparse that it's equivalent to flying at 100,000 feet on Earth. (The altitude record on Earth is 85,000 feet, set by the SR-71.) In order to fly at all the blades have to spin at nearly the (Martian) speed of sound. The drone wouldn't fly on Earth because the atmosphere is so dense that the blades would never make it up to speed.
in “Perseverance Rover lands on Mars [video]” · View on HN
ruchin_kSep 2021Recommends
Saw this Veritasium youtube video a year ago and the technical complexity required to fly on Mars was shocking to me. Since the air density is super low the blades need to spin at a speed which nears the speed of sound at the blade tips. Crossing the speed of sound causes mini sonic booms which could disrupt the flight entirely. Kudos to NASA scientists for this technological breakthrough! Sharing the video: ▶ this video
in “After six months on Mars, NASA's tiny copter is still flying high” · View on HN
jshmrsnApr 2021Recommends
Veritasium has a great video on the helicopter. Early on in the video they explain that Mars’ atmosphere is equivalent in density to Earth’s atmosphere at 100,000 feet, and the record altitude for helicopters on earth is 40,000 feet. ▶ this video
in “NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity touches down on the Red Planet” · View on HN
ortusduxApr 2021Recommends
On top of what others have said, we need advancement it batteries that can withstand low temperatures. Lithium ion batteries generally need to be kept above freezing temps. There have been some advances in capacitors that operate down to -100C, but their energy density makes them a non-ideal option for weight limited applications. This video from Veritasium does a good job of covering the helicopter power system: ▶ this video
in “NASA's helicopter survives first freezing night on Mars” · View on HN
vizzierApr 2021Recommends
Video from Veritasium about the helicopter that talk with the team about this. He mentions that 2/3rds of the daily energy gathered is used for the purpose[1] Other information about the tech; camera & landing, energy use for heating, flight in low pressure atmosphere, the system to actually land the thing, is also really interesting. ▶ this video
in “NASA's helicopter survives first freezing night on Mars” · View on HN
dirktApr 2021Recommends
This video ▶ this video explains it: they can change the attack angle of rotor blades for different positions, which produces a torque, though you have to compensate for the gyroscopic effect, which lags behind. Humans cannot fly this, but computers can. The video also explains why the chose two contra-rotating rotors instead of a quad-copter design.
in “Mars Helicopter successfully completed its second flight” · View on HN
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manicdeeFeb 2021Recommends
Veritasium did an episode 'Mars Helicopter' containing some interesting discussions with the team that built it. ▶ this video nm it was already linked elsewhere
in “How NASA Designed a Helicopter That Could Fly Autonomously on Mars” · View on HN
kibwenFeb 2021Recommends
A great video where the host visits the drone, interviews its makers, and goes over the cool technical aspects of it and its mission: ▶ this video
in “Perseverance Rover lands on Mars [video]” · View on HN
BrajeshwarFeb 2021Recommends
You should watch Dr. Derek Muller of Veritasium, who did a video (2019) details of the Helicopter while it was being built. ▶ this video
in “The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly” · View on HN
kingo55Feb 2021Recommends
It's not just atmosphere and g-forces. The cold temperatures mean the helicopter spends 2/3 of its battery power keeping the batteries and electronics from freezing. Good rundown of how it was built: ▶ this video
in “The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly” · View on HN
jcimsJun 2020Recommends
Totally agree. It's obviously a high risk portion of the mission but I'm glad someone had the guts to propose it. Derek from Veritasium did a nice little story on it last summer - ▶ this video
in “NASA rushing to complete Mars launch before planet moves out of range” · View on HN
smoeMar 2021Cites it
They briefly talk about it in this Veritasium Video at around the 9 minute mark ▶ this video He says, unlike in the movies, it is not really an issue. With 1% earth’s atmosphere there is very little matter actually hitting you.
in “The Mars Helicopter Is Online and Getting Ready to Fly” · View on HN
doitLPFeb 2021Cites it
I’ll bet they worked with my friend who is the Deputy Surface Mission Manager for the rover. He gave us a little presentation of what he worked on, including the little helicopter that is attached to the underside of the rover. Veritasium did a cool video about it a couple years ago. [1] Kudos to everyone who worked on the project and got it launched during the pandemic! [1] ▶ this video
in “NASA's Perseverance rover will attempt to land on Mars this week” · View on HN
SubMachineGhostFeb 2021Cites it
Mars has 1% of earth's atmosphere, so it will not affect the vehicle, The answer comes from an interview with the engineers here : ▶ this video
in “How NASA Designed a Helicopter That Could Fly Autonomously on Mars” · View on HN