The rarefied atmosphere of Mars is one of the main challenges that the Ingenuity helicopter will face as part of the Perseverance rover mission. This was told to Izvestia by space expert, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics (RAK) Andrey Ionin on Thursday, February 18.
The Ingenuity helicopter is a small aircraft attached to the bottom of the rover. The helicopter is primarily an experimental mission to demonstrate the technology. A few months after landing, the helicopter will be placed on the surface for the first ever controlled flight on another planet.
The rarefied atmosphere makes it much more difficult to create lift, said Andrey Ionin.
"The atmosphere of Mars is very thin, almost 200 times less dense at the surface of Mars than on Earth. On the surface of Mars, the density of the atmosphere, as at an altitude of about 35-40 km on Earth. On the Ground, only special high-altitude military aircraft or stratostats fly at this altitude, " Andrei Ionin said.
Thus, to take off on Mars, you need a fairly light device, with reduced on-board computers, electronics and other details, the expert noted.
"Creating an aircraft for Mars is an extremely difficult task, because both planes and helicopters fly based on the atmosphere. On Mars, this is very difficult to do. This helicopter should have a very small mass and huge blades in relation to the ground, " Ionin stressed.
NASA specialists managed to achieve a fairly modest size of Ingenuity: its weight -1.8 kg, height-0.49 m, diameter of the screws-1.2 m.
The characteristics of Ingenuity's experimental test flights will help in the development of small helicopters for future missions to Mars. These helicopters could perform a supporting role as reconnaissance robots, exploring the area from above, said Andrey Ionin.
"The rovers move very slowly, they pass several tens of meters per day. There was a case with one of the rovers, when it got stuck between the rocks and for a long time raked out, crawled out. Reconnaissance helicopters will allow the rover to move confidently, choose the best route, taking into account rocks, potholes and holes, " the expert concluded.
The Perseverance rover will land on Mars on February 18, NASA has promised that the entire landing process will be broadcast live on its website. Viewers were warned in advance that due to the remoteness of Mars, the picture will go with a delay of 11 minutes and 22 seconds.
The main task of Perseverance, in addition to the search for possible life on Mars, will be the study of the planet's soil and the collection of various rocks and, possibly, metals. The next spacecraft that NASA will send to the Red Planet together with the European Space Agency will collect all the samples and bring them to Earth for in-depth analysis.
