A Martian will be flying an earthen helicopter!

Details of the first flight of an earthly helicopter to the Red Planet have been
revealed Judging by the information provided by NASA, the current hero of the day
is quite consistent with the Russian proverb “Small spool, but expensive.” The mass
of the Ingenuity helicopter is only 1800 grams, its two carbon-fiber propellers,
located one above the other, have a diameter of 120 centimeters, the working height
of the structure is 80 centimeters, and a meter by meter is enough to support the
four legs of the device. At the same time, the design and manufacture of the
miracle drone cost tens of millions of dollars.

The designs of the Martian reconnaissance helicopter are two pulling propellers,
the mouth. renovated coaxially. Various layout options are used for its earthly
older brothers. In addition to machines with two propellers installed one above the
other, models are often put into mass production, where there is a main power
propeller and, in addition to it, an auxiliary, small one, placed on a remote tail
boom. The best known representatives of these two types are modern Russian military
helicopters, designed by Kamov OKB and Mil OKB. The Americans chose the Kamov
version for their Martian helicopter. Why? Why is it better than "Milevsky"? To
understand this, we turned to the distinguished test pilot of the USSR, Felix
Vorobyov, who during more than half a year of his career as a pilot has mastered
almost 30 types of Russian planes and helicopters.
-Of course, each of these two types of helicopters, with an auxiliary propeller
placed on the tail boom or with two coaxial propellers, has its own advantages. In
this case, it is quite clear to me what considerations the American designers were
guided by when creating the design of a helicopter for Mars. The fact is that
machines with coaxial propellers behave much more reliably in a situation when the
wind breaks out, Felix Mikhailovich explained. - On the Red Planet, judging by the
estimates of scientists, it can blow out very strongly. I judge from my own
experience: a Kamov type helicopter, once in the zone of action of a powerful wind
flow, demonstrates much greater stability. The helicopter itself will automatically
turn against the wind, thereby reducing the windage. But a helicopter with a layout
similar to the "Mil" machines, in such a situation, can acquire a roll. Aligning it
for an experienced crew is easy. But in this case we are talking about an automatic
aircraft, which is controlled from the Earth, located millions of kilometers away.
Here, the inevitable time delay of the signal is quite large. Therefore, the need
to submit every extra command to adjust the flight mode is fraught with serious
problems for the drone. Another important advantage of a helicopter with a coaxial
propeller arrangement is that, given all other things being equal, it has smaller
dimensions, and, therefore, it needs a smaller area for takeoff and landing. In the
Martian situation, this is also very important. In addition, such helicopters
behave reliably in the event of engine failures, landing in autorotation has been
worked out for them. But the requirements for the alignment of the entire structure
in the case of both types of machines - "Kamov" and "Mil" - are approximately the
same. So, the designers of the Martian helicopter who chose this option failed to
achieve any tangible advantages for manipulating the mass. The scientists at NASA
have decided to “test fly” the helicopter at the middle of the Martian day. On the
basis of already accumulated information about the Red Planet, it is believed that
at this time it is most likely that the weakest winds directly above the surface of
Mars can be expected. Taking into account the fact that the Martian atmosphere is
more rarefied compared to the earth, the designers of this helicopter had to
significantly increase the speed of its propellers to create the necessary lifting
force. If our terrestrial helicopters need about 500 revolutions per minute to fly
up, then the Martian "turntable" was spun up to 2500 revolutions. The creators also
foresaw the fact that this drone will have to experience the effects of very low
temperatures: at night on the surface of Mars, it can drop to minus 100 degrees. In
order for the components, assemblies and instruments of the aircraft to work
normally, the helicopter is equipped with special heaters inside. Judging by
today's victorious reports from the USA, all these subterfuges were not in vain.
The era of "Martian” aviation has started.