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Microflyers on Mars

Posted by michael on from the float-like-a-butterfly dept.

Birds of Fire writes: "This article on Yahoo reports on work in Australia to develop tiny aircraft for Mars exploration. "Aircraft weighing as little as a chocolate bar could one day be darting over the surface of Mars with the agility of dragonflies and the eyes of bees."

3 of 17 comments (clear)

  1. Questions? by 4of12 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    1. Have they got a good lead on solving the power to weight ratio problem?
    2. Getting the total energy /weight ratio high enough so the flyer has reasonable range (think hummingbirds)?
    3. Cost per unit?

    Cost is not so important, since we're willing to spend quite a bit to get these things to Mars, but even so, if the cost could be brought done enough there might be terrestrial applications for little drones loaded up with various sensors.

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    "Provided by the management for your protection."
  2. Another step towards the inevitable - terraforming by akiaki007 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is similar to another article that I read about these flyers that NASA is working on that look like insects, but a lot lighter and smaller, and not as capable. I think this one is much better. It can go farther, and won't be wisked away by a 10mph wind.

    Eventually I would think that they are going to plan a full terraform team and such, and these can be used to map everything. Hmm, now I just gotta figure out how I can get on that team.

    --
    "Time is long and life is short, so begin to live while you still can." -EV
  3. Re:Flying on Mars is very, very difficult. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Actually, lift is proportional to density * velocity^2. So if the density is 1/10, you only need 3.2 times the speed.

    Actually, the martian atmosphere is 1/60th as dense as Earths. Also, mars has about 1/3 the gravity of earth, so you only need 1/3 as much lift.

    Put these all together and you need to fly about 4.5x as fast.

    Since drag is also proportional to density*velocity^2, drag is 1/3. At 4.5x the speed, you need about 1.5x the power to fly on earth. Not a big difference. The good news is that you get places a lot faster.

    .