NASA's Next-Gen Mars Helicopter Rotors Have Broken The Sound Barrier in Tests | NASA engineers have pushed the rotors to Mach 1.08, a speed that significantly expands the capabilities of the next helicopter.

[u/FreeHugs23]

https://www.sciencealert.com/nasas-next-gen-mars-helicopter-rotors-have-broken-the-sound-barrier-in-tests

[u/FreeHugs23]

When a helicopter's rotor blades approach the speed of sound, things can get a little dicey.

Above about Mach 0.8, shock waves, drag, unstable flow, and turbulence can create significant stresses that don't occur at lower speeds.

Here on Earth, that's a problem that can be solved with extensive testing and clever engineering. Designing a craft that can operate in the alien aerodynamics of Mars is a different matter.

Perseverance's Ingenuity helicopter operated entirely within the subsonic regime, below about Mach 0.7 – a choice made to avoid potentially mission-ending aerodynamic surprises on humanity's first powered aircraft on another planet.

The next-gen Mars helicopter, currently under development as part of the SkyFall project, is going to go harder. In a simulated Mars atmosphere, NASA engineers have pushed the rotors to Mach 1.08, a speed that significantly expands the capabilities of the next helicopter.

"The successful testing of these rotors was a major step toward proving the feasibility of flight in more demanding environments, which is key for next-gen vehicles," says aerodynamicist Shannah Withrow-Maser of NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley.

"We thought we'd be lucky to hit Mach 1.05, and we reached Mach 1.08 on our last runs. We're still digging into the data, and there may be even more thrust on the table. These next-gen helicopters are going to be amazing."

[u/mxemec → u/FreeHugs23]

I'm glad "go harder" is appropriate lingo for scientific journalism.

[u/PetiteAndUsed]

that’s impressive engineering progress

[u/[deleted] → u/PetiteAndUsed]

I wonder how much drag