NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover
Discussion
Einion Yrth said:
julian64 said:
Does ingenuity actually have a camera on board?
Ingenuity has two cameras onboard. A black-and-white camera that points down to the ground, which is used for navigation, and a high-resolution colour camera that looks out to the horizon.
Eagerly awaiting colour camera photos from 100ft up
Eric Mc said:
Apart from the even greater distance to Titan, it should be easier to fly in Titan's atmosphere compared to Mars because its atmosphere is much denser.
I forget where I heard it but I remember someone saying that humans could probably fly on Titan by strapping wings to their arms and flapping, such is the gravity and atmospheric density.
AnotherClarkey said:
Eric Mc said:
Apart from the even greater distance to Titan, it should be easier to fly in Titan's atmosphere compared to Mars because its atmosphere is much denser.
I forget where I heard it but I remember someone saying that humans could probably fly on Titan by strapping wings to their arms and flapping, such is the gravity and atmospheric density.julian64 said:
Thank god for that. I was looking around on the internet for its video/photos and all I could see was those of the rover looking at it. Then I found the black and white vertical one but nothing else. I though surely they must have a method of looking out from this thing, but couldn't see anything on teh ingenuity pictures.
Eagerly awaiting colour camera photos from 100ft up
It's a very low bandwidth data link. There will be plenty of better photos & video coming in over the next few days.Eagerly awaiting colour camera photos from 100ft up
Eric Mc said:
I don't think it would really be feasible. Titan is bigger than our moon so the gravity is stronger - more like that on the surface of Mars. I think it would require a bit more than flapping your arms to get airborne.
Titan/Gravity 1.352 m/s²So a bit over a tenth of a G, presumably significantly less dense than the moon.
Einion Yrth said:
Eric Mc said:
I don't think it would really be feasible. Titan is bigger than our moon so the gravity is stronger - more like that on the surface of Mars. I think it would require a bit more than flapping your arms to get airborne.
Titan/Gravity 1.352 m/s²So a bit over a tenth of a G, presumably significantly less dense than the moon.
SpudLink said:
Isn’t the composition of our moon similar to Earth? Like a small planet. Whereas Titan is dense ice. So I would expect Titan to have a lower mass for a similar size.
I don't think we know yet what the bulk of Titan is made up of. We haven't done any surface geology. What is its density?
The surface gravity on Titan is about 1/7th that of Earth, compared to the Moon's 1/6th of Earth.
Titan is about 1.8 times as dense as the Moon and also larger, but the surface is also further from its center than the Moon's.
Stood on the surface of each & you'd be about 520 miles further from the center of Titan, than from the center of Moon.
As I understand it, it's the distance from the center (its radius) as well as its mass that determine surface gravity.
See Newton's law of universal gravitation:
F = GMm/r^2
F = force
G = gravitational constant
M = mass of object 1 (Titan or the Moon for example)
m = mass of object 2 (You, or the object on the surface)
r = distance between centers of the masses (the distance between the center of Titan / Moon and the surface)
Titan is about 1.8 times as dense as the Moon and also larger, but the surface is also further from its center than the Moon's.
Stood on the surface of each & you'd be about 520 miles further from the center of Titan, than from the center of Moon.
As I understand it, it's the distance from the center (its radius) as well as its mass that determine surface gravity.
See Newton's law of universal gravitation:
F = GMm/r^2
F = force
G = gravitational constant
M = mass of object 1 (Titan or the Moon for example)
m = mass of object 2 (You, or the object on the surface)
r = distance between centers of the masses (the distance between the center of Titan / Moon and the surface)
I can see now - so you feel 1/7th the weight you would on earth. I don't think that's enough to allow you to flap your way off the ground. I think you might be able to do a sky dive with a wing suit from a Titan cliff top which would allow you to emulate Buzz Lightyear by falling with style.
1/7 the weight, but the atmosphere is also four times denser.
I'm not sure how atmospheric density impacts ease of flight- is it as simple as double the density, half the effort?
If so, you'd be looking at 28 times easier than on Earth.
Randall thinks you would be able to fly on Titan by flapping:https://what-if.xkcd.com/30 and I'd expect he's done some analysis.
I'm not sure how atmospheric density impacts ease of flight- is it as simple as double the density, half the effort?
If so, you'd be looking at 28 times easier than on Earth.
Randall thinks you would be able to fly on Titan by flapping:https://what-if.xkcd.com/30 and I'd expect he's done some analysis.
Another success for Perseverance - making oxygen from Mar's atmosphere
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-perseverance-m...
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-perseverance-m...
MartG said:
Another success for Perseverance - making oxygen from Mar's atmosphere
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-perseverance-m...
It does seem like they are getting some serious "science" done. I put it in quotes as it's just as much engineering I feel. The pieces of the jigsaw for Musk's ambitions coming together - proof they can make oxygen, proof they can fly aerodynamically. Have any landers tried the Sabatier process on Mars yet? https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-perseverance-m...
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