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CarAtunk817 t1_jdowwgq wrote

JPL been trying to break this thing for like a year now. These latest flights are high, long, and fast.

What an amazing feat of engineering. Quickly becoming my favorite space probe of all time. Ridiculous.

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collegefurtrader t1_jdp16je wrote

And it’s basically a goof, an experiment. Built with cheap consumer hardware.

Exceeded expectations is an understatement.

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Graybie t1_jdp7q00 wrote

I would be a little more clear than that. It used consumer grade hardware for certain components. Key avionics are still radiation hardened and as far as I know, things like the blades, landing legs, and chassis are all custom. The motors were technically off-the-shelf (maxon DCX), but were modified and customized. The thing cost $80,000,000 to design and build.

https://thenewstack.io/how-the-first-helicopter-on-mars-uses-off-the-shelf-hardware-and-linux/

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221missile t1_jdqj5yg wrote

It’s more expensive per pound than the B-2 spirit, an aircraft that literally costs more than its weight in gold.

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dingo1018 t1_jdsdjgb wrote

But the whole thing weighs about as much as a very poorly sparrow.

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Grogosh t1_jdp2ll3 wrote

They are collecting data on what you can do with a helicopter drone on mars.

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KINGMARKOXIV t1_jdrxd98 wrote

not much, considering the atmosphere is... thin... very thin at that

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StrangeTangerine1525 t1_jdtjt3s wrote

I don’t think they would have sent this technolgoy demosntration if they thought flight on Mars was a dead end lol. Despite the air being less than 1/50 the density of air on Earth Mars has lower gravity and heavier air molecules at least helping to partially offset the disadvantage of the thin air. Aerial surveillance is a powerful tool for Mars exploration and could be used to explore large regions on the surface and to sample the atmosphere.

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