[dooglius]

Can't NASA test this in an artificial atmosphere low-pressure low-gravity room? Obviously there will be real-world concerns that are hard to simulate like slight damage from spacecraft landing and dust spun up when the copter takes off, but the article makes it sound like the low density is the big thing they're worried about.

[joshvm]

They've done this already: https://youtu.be/oOMQOqKRWjU?t=41s

[certifiedloud]

Simulating dust kick-up would be easier than constructing a "low gravity" room.

[dooglius]

It isn't too hard to simulate low gravity, all you need to do is move a large aircraft in the appropriate parabolic pattern. My understanding is that this is already how NASA trains astronauts for zero-g environments, and how weightlessness is done in space movies. Adjusting the path to match Mars gravity should not be difficult.

[caconym_]

It might not be realistic to fly a pressure vessel large enough to simulate the low atmospheric pressure as well as the low gravity. There are probably also safety concerns; the rotors on serious R/C helicopters store enough energy to basically decapitate a human and these are probably somewhere in that neighborhood given the requirement to generate lift in Mars' atmosphere.

[diplocorp]

True, but you cannot test a small helicopter inside an aircraft, can you?

[dooglius]

I don't see why not, a test that goes 10 feet up, 50 feet over, 10 feet down should be sufficient. The thing in the video looks like it could fit in a large cargo plane. Or, are you concerned about turbulance due to being in a closed space vs open atmosphere?