2444: Ingenuity

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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Ingenuity
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!
Title text: 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

    Ambox warning blue construction.svg This is one of 52 incomplete explanations:
    Created by a Martian helicopter. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

    Ingenuity is a drone-like helicopter deployed to the surface of Mars. It rode on the underside of the Perseverance rover. After the rover released it and cleared its takeoff trajectory, the helicopter was then supposed to take off. The comic projects what might happen if the mission controllers activated the helicopter early and the entire rover took off from the surface. In the comic, Ponytail and Cueball are standing at mission control, when Cueball slips and hits the button. The Ingenuity drone then takes of, lifting Perserverance with it, and the rover says "Wheee!" Presumably from exitement or happiness.

    In the title text, some character discovers powered flight is easier on Mars, which contradicts our current understanding that powered flight is very difficult on Mars. Mars may have less gravity, but Mars' atmosphere is 1% the density of earth. 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.

    Transcript

    Ambox warning green construction.svg This is one of 27 incomplete transcripts:
    Do NOT delete this tag too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!
    [On the 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, saying "Oops", and clicks on a key on his workstation.
    [On Mars:]
    Ingenuity (below Perseverance, its rotor blades spinning): Bzzzzzz
    Perseverance (as it's being lifted into the air by Ingenuity): Wheeee!
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