Mars Ingenuity drone flies length of football field - video

[Judi Lynn]

1:00
Nasa's Ingenuity helicopter stretched its rotors on Sunday 25 April, taking its third flight on Mars.

The flight was Nasa's most ambitious to date, with Ingenuity rising to a height of five metres and then accelerating horizontally for 50 metres before returning to its take-off point.

Nasa’s Mars helicopter in first powered, controlled flight on another planet
Perseverance rover sends back first ever recording of driving on Mars – video
Source: Nasa

Mon 26 Apr 2021 01.22 EDT

https://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2021/apr/26/mars-ingenuity-drone-flies-length-of-football-field-video

[Rhiannon12866]

1. K&R! Incredibly cool!

Go, Ingenuity!

[modrepub]

2. Why No Dust?

Not that I doubt the authenticity of this flight but I'm curious why the craft didn't kick up any dust on its take off or landing.

Surface air pressure on Mars is about 1% of the Earth's if I'm not mistaken. Is there just not a lot of dust in this area? Seems unlikely given a lot of the solar equipment on other Mars craft loose power because dust accumulates on their panels.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Video enhancement shows the dust. But yes, the air is very thin.

If nothing else, that means dust falls back down much faster than on Earth. Dust in a vacuum falls just as fast as gravel or boulders; at 0.01 atm it can't be much slower. It's true Mars' gravity is about 40% of Earth's, but that also means the drone needs only 40% as much thrust to lift off.