One of the most interesting things about Ingenuity is the amount of standard open-source code used. Github has a badge for if you contributed code to a project used by it, and they put up an explanatory page at <a href="https://github.com/readme/featured/nasa-ingenuity-helicopter" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/readme/featured/nasa-ingenuity-helicopter</a>.
Maybe after the shift from space-grade parts to commodity parts in (some) satellites, this will mean the same for parts of future mars missions. A Snapdragon 801 as used here is certainly much cheaper, easier to work with and powerful than anything space-grade.
About the size: the blades are really huge "in person" (in VR :-)<p>I added both the Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity to our VR puzzle game Peco Peco[0], and I was totally surprised both times by how bigger than I thought they were. (Players can assemble the puzzle for Ingenuity at full scale, and at both full scale and 1/3rd of scale for the rover)<p>So if you have a VR headset, I highly suggest to find a way to discover Ingenuity at full scale in VR.<p>[0] <a href="https://pecopecogame.com/" rel="nofollow">https://pecopecogame.com/</a>
Interesting craft in that it's essentially just a larger version of the R/C toys you can buy. I wonder how they tested the blade design. Did they fly it at 100,000ft on Earth?
I think people who fly tiny whoop quadcopters would find the description of a 1.8kg copter as 'tiny' quite amusing.
I'm guessing the primary driver for the weight is the power to lift this in the thin atmosphere, secondary to that the weight of the strong materials used to make it durable.
Saw this Veritasium youtube video a year ago and the technical complexity required to fly on Mars was shocking to me. Since the air density is super low the blades need to spin at a speed which nears the speed of sound at the blade tips. Crossing the speed of sound causes mini sonic booms which could disrupt the flight entirely. Kudos to NASA scientists for this technological breakthrough! Sharing the video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhsZUZmJvaM" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhsZUZmJvaM</a>
Quote: "NASA is planning to retrieve those samples during a future mission—sometime in the 2030s. "<p>Not if Musk gets his rocket filled with 100 people on Mars in next years. Then you'll have a better way to do science on that soil.