?Do you know why we can fly a helicopter on Mars but can't turn on a light in Texas?

[kpete]

https://liberalsarecool.com/post/643588425491103744/only-republicans-could-turn-the-state-with-the

[Chainfire]

1. I love it!

[PJMcK]

2. Saw something similar but you made a mistake

Engineers are in charge of Mars. The science will be done when the observations are made and the materials collected for analysis.

Once, I met a worker from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and when I told her I had never met a real rocket scientist, she admonished me by saying, "I'm an Engineer not a Scientist!" Her team was responsible for the activities of one of the earlier Martian rovers.

[HUAJIAO]

11. Acute observation.

Thinking about it now. I wonder. how CAN you fly a helicopter on mars if there is no atmosphere. You can't even fly one to the top of Mt. Everest, as far as I know. Or it is really difficult.

[flyingfysh]

12. Mars does have an atmosphere

Last edited Sun Feb 21, 2021, 01:16 PM - Edit history (1)

It is just very thin. I'm sure NASA had figured this out already.

Sometimes Mars has dust storms. You can't have a dust storm without an atmosphere.

[HUAJIAO]

13. Didn't know about the atmosphere. must be really thin.

Yes, I'm sure NASA had it figured out..

But how.. NOW I am going to do a little research on it.

Actually a good friend of mine is an aerospace engineer who works for Boeing in Huntsville-- pretty high up the engineer ranks there. (put in a couple years at the JPL as well.) He'll know.

[sarge43]

20. Martian atmo is less than 1% of Earth's value

The drone Ingenuity is a helicopter which depends on lift and thrust to stay airborne.

[HUAJIAO]

22. Thanks, Sarge.....

[sarge43]

25. You're welcome, HUAJIAO

Do read up on the Red Planet. It's a fascinating place.

[HUAJIAO]

26. Will do.

I am a classical musician but have always had a lazy but true fascination with the cosmos, astrophysics, etc...

Many years ago I had the good fortune to spend a couple or three nights hanging with Carl Sagan over leisurely Japanese dinners and sake.. I mostly just listened.

[BobTheSubgenius]

28. We learned all we need to know about Mars from Matt Damon.

[sarge43]

29. Well, he did get Martian wind strength wrong.

[SlogginThroughIt]

17. Every planet in the solar system has an atmosphere.

[HUAJIAO]

18. So I am learning.

I guess then I mean it is so thin.

I'll ask my aerospace engineer friend...

[SlogginThroughIt]

19. I had to look it up. I vaguely recalled it from school days.

I used to know all sorts of things I don't anymore.

I am beginning to know less and less about more and more. Pretty soon I will know absolutely nothing about everything.

[HUAJIAO]

24. HA HA HA!!!!

So I'm not the only one, eh?

Years ago I was reading Nigel Calder's EINSTEIN'S UNIVERSE for the first time.

I was actually sitting on the can when I suddenly understood in a blaze of light something very specific about time in it's relationship to 'space.'
But as soon as I got off the toilet, I suddenly lost it. true story.....

I forget what it was though....

[flyingfysh]

30. even Mercury?

I thought Mercury didn't have one, because it is so close to the sun. Maybe I am wrong.

[SlogginThroughIt]

32. Yes it does.

It is very thin and has a special name I don’t remember it but yeah it has a very thin atmosphere.

[Snackshack]

3. I like it.

A succinct breakdown of the core issue.

[IronLionZion]

4. Because AOC and the green new deal ruined Texas

liberal hippies snuck in right under the GOP's nose and ruined that great state. The wall doesn't work. Time to build a dome.

[Turbineguy]

5. The republicans have the same problem

the Soviets had. Not everything is political and you can't solve real problems with lies.

[bottomofthehill]

21. I had not thought of it this way, but so true

Looking at the Covid response, the Election Response, Climate Change.... talking the problem is not fixing problem.

[In_The_Wind]

6. How many more lives will be lost due to republican mismanagement.

[SergeStorms]

7. You can't argue with that.

Well, you could argue, but you'd lose that argument. Many Texans still have this attitude that they can do anything better than anyone else, and they don't need help from anyone, especially those educated eggheads from Washington. It's the United States of America, not some competition to see who's the best, or who's the most fiercely independent. We're all in this together.

[Blue Owl]

8. K&R

[paleotn]

9. Simple. $$$

And priorities when it comes to $$. That's not a hit against NASA at all. I think their budget should be doubled or tripled. That's a hit against the greedy wankers who don't want to pay higher electricity rates when the weather is benign. But wait until they get their bills this month, since ERCOT turned the wolves of supply and demand on them. It a case of pay me now, or pay me later, but you will pay one way or another.

[bucolic_frolic]

10. The only way to be spared the miseries of Republican rule is to boot Republicans from office.

At every opportunity. Someone should tell the people.

[Silver1]

14. Haha! Very good!

[Lucinda]

15. ❤️ ✿❧🌿❧✿ ❤️

[Towlie]

16. We don't know yet that we can fly a helicopter on Mars, it was sent there for a test.

 
?

I can't find any report yet that it has flown. Does anyone know when it will be tested?

Article from March 30, 2020: NASA's Mars helicopter almost ready for take off

It's not expected to do anything useful except prove that it can fly on Mars:

The Mars Helicopter is considered a high-risk, high-reward technology demonstration. If the small craft encounters difficulties, the science-gathering of the Mars 2020 mission won't be impacted. If the helicopter does take flight as designed, future Mars missions could enlist second-generation helicopters to add an aerial dimension to their explorations.


"Our job is to prove that autonomous, controlled flight can be executed in the extremely thin Martian atmosphere," said JPL's MiMi Aung, the Mars Helicopter project manager. "Since our helicopter is designed as a flight test of experimental technology, it carries no science instruments. But if we prove powered flight on Mars can work, we look forward to the day when Mars helicopters can play an important role in future explorations of the Red Planet."

[murielm99]

23. Off topic,

but I love your odometer.

[Towlie]

27. Thank you, and it's hardly off topic to point out what I said.

 
?

It's a clever jab at Texas Republicans, but a bit premature. NASA needs to first prove it can fly a helicopter on Mars before we can brag about why we can fly a helicopter on Mars. It may be unlikely, but think about how that claim would backfire on us if the helicopter fails.

[Brother Mythos]

31. Good one! Thank you!

Oh, I almost forgot, I'm stealing that!