Many aerospace enthusiasts throughout the world were heartbroken recently when Ingenuity, the autonomous helicopter NASA sent to Mars with the Opportunity spacecraft, suffered damage to at least one of its rotor blades. (Martian aviation authorities have not yet commented on the mishap.) After 72 flights, totaling more than two hours of flight time, the little helicopter that could is grounded until parts and a mechanic can be ferried in.
Lame jokes aside, flying on Mars must be great, even with the thin atmosphere. The local weather typically is VMC and, since there is no other traffic (that we know of — Ed.), there is no need for flight rules, or even ATC. The weather on Mars is usually VMC because there is very little water in the Martian atmosphere to generate clouds, fog, thunderstorms or even airframe icing, which is important since the average temperature is -64 degrees F.
