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DABEAR wrote:
> Much ado has been made of the Mars Rovers and the use of a vehicle to
> explore the moon in the 1970s.
>
> I was curious if there was enough atmosphere on a planet like Mars
> that Astronauts could utilize Ultralights in their exploration and if
> so, what would the make-up of the ultralight aircraft be, considering
> the lightweight materials utilized to construct the lunar rover in the
> late 1960s? Would there be enough atmosphere to support a parachute
> recovery system as well?
>
> Also, the Army experimented with inflatable aircraft in the 1950s/
> 1960s...would the "inflate-a-plane" idea find use in space exploration
> if adequate atmosphere existed to support an ultralight operation?
>
> It would seem to me that if there were enough atmosphere on Mars to
> support Ultralights, an astronaut could cover greater ground in
> exploration, especially considering the STOL capability of such an
> aircraft. VTOL is nice, but an engine failure could cause a mission
> abort. A dual engine failure could maroon astronauts. In regards to
> the rovers, if the vehicle breaks down, it's a long way to walk back
> to base camp on very little oxygen.
>
Get a copy of X-Plane. Austin Meyers has modeled the Martian Atmosphere
and has included one possible design that 'flies'. It has the wings of
a glider and the engine of a C-5. The jet intake has to be HUGE in
order to capture enough air to be worth anything. The runway is several
miles long, and rotation speed is somewhere around 400kts.
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Re: Ultralights in Space?
