Editing 2444: Ingenuity

{{comic
| number    = 2444
| date      = March 31, 2021
| title     = Ingenuity
| image     = ingenuity.png
| titletext = Plot twist: Thanks to [mumble mumble] second-order [mumble] Rayleigh-Taylor [mumble] turbulent [mumble] shear, it turns out powered flight is way EASIER on Mars!
}}
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a Martian helicopter. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Ingenuity_(helicopter)|Ingenuity}} is a drone-like helicopter deployed to the surface of Mars. It rode on the underside of the Perseverance rover and at the time of publication its protective housing had been released from the rover and it was being prepared for a flight in early April. The helicopter is supposed to take off after the rover fully releases it and clears its takeoff trajectory.

The comic projects what might happen if the mission controllers activated the helicopter early. In this case, the process is approaching the point of detaching the part-deployed Ingenuity. Ponytail and Cueball are present in mission control when Cueball trips and hits a button that clearly triggers the Ingenuity drone to take off. Perseverance, still firmly above/attached is seen to easily ride atop it. The rover exclaims "Wheee!", presumably from excitement or happiness.

In the title text, some character discovers powered flight is easier on Mars, which contradicts our current understanding [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhsZUZmJvaM that powered flight is very difficult on Mars]. Mars may have less gravity, but Mars's atmosphere is 1% the density of Earth's. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYe3sIaNHVs It's so thin that you couldn't move a feather with a fan.] This is why the character mumbles his explanation of the science, because they know any explanation doesn't actually make sense.

The total mass of the two vehicles is about 556 times that of the helicopter alone, meaning the unexpected lift effect 'described' would have to be several hundred times more effective than that anticipated, depending upon the factor of overdesign already built in to avoid an expensive marginal failure. It also seems to be trivially easy to balance the extremely top-heavy loading upon the small solar-panel that tops out the counter-rotating coaxial blades, which adds yet more questions of both the dynamic and structural performance, never mind questions about the available power to accomplish this and the later possibilities to recharge.

The {{w|Rayleigh-Taylor instability|Rayleigh–Taylor instability}} is a fluid instability that occurs at the interface between two fluids of different densities when the lighter fluid is supported by the denser fluid, leading to the mixing of the fluids due to the growth of perturbations at the interface.

It is not the first time that we have seen a Mars vehicle [[1504|vastly exceed expectations]] in these pages.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Surface of Mars.]
:Perseverance rover (in robotic voice): Ingenuity helicopter has been lowered. Preparing to release it onto the surface.

:[In Mission Control on Earth. Cueball trips and clicks on a key on his workstation, while Ponytail stands nearby.]
:Cueball: Oops

:[On Mars, Ingenuity's rotor blades start spinning.]
:Ingenuity: Bzzzzzz

:[Perseverance is being lifted into the air by Ingenuity.]
:Perseverance: Wheeee!
:Ingenuity: Bzzzzzz

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Mars rovers]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]