Аннотация: A long-awaited successful breakthrough in nanotechnology. MiMi Aung and the space helicopter "Ingenuity". A super brief review.
A long-awaited successful breakthrough in nanotechnology. MiMi Aung and the space helicopter 'Ingenuity'. A super brief review.
Russia is not only the homeland of elephants, but also - of a mammoth-like nanotechnology corporations.
Any Russial citizen happily and enthusiastically gets to know the breakthroughs in the field of nanotechnology.
Naturally, we read with interest the interview that Ewelina Zambrzycka-Kościelnicka took with MiMi Aung. 'With Dr. MiMi Aung from NASA we are talking about space technology' (Z dr MiMi Aung z NASA rozmawiamy o kosmicznych technologiach). February 12, 2021. Ewelina Zambrzycka-Kościelnicka , Focus.pl. (https://www.focus.pl/artykul/helikopter-na-marsie). [unofficial translation everywhere]
What did we find interesting?
The atmosphere of Mars is about 100 times more rarefied when compared to the atmosphere of planet Earth.
Therefore, special requirements are placed on miniaturization. One of the important prerequisites for the development of the "Ingenuity" space helicopter was a breakthrough in nanotechnology.
'Dr. MiMi Aung: (...) The problem was technology. We needed ultra-lightweight and durable materials, miniaturization of electronic components on a scale that could not be achieved 30 years ago, and a significant increase in the processing power and memory of computers. "
The actions of the rover and the space helicopter 'on Mars do not correlate with each other, these devices do not complement each other. "Ingenuity" must demonstrate technological capabilities, and that's it. All the helicopter has to do is to start functioning, to charge the batteries, to show that it can take off and land."
'In the meantime, getting a photo, sending a team and getting to the rover control system [the Perseverance rover] takes at least ten minutes - and often much more. (...) Therefore, it ["Ingenuity" space helicopter] has to operate autonomously, and independently choose the appropriate flight routes for itself. Of course, the first demonstration flights will be short: 10, maybe 15 meters. "
'We are not sure that the batteries, that power the helicopter, initially will cope with temperatures dropping to minus 90 degrees Celsius.
If all goes according a plan, another day of "Ingenuity"'s life on another planet will be dedicated to solar panels. They must be properly distributed and, above all, charge the helicopter batteries. This will be the next difficult moment ... After that the helicopter will try to take off and fly a few meters. If this succeeds, the next flight will be slightly longer.
(...)
In truth, the list of what can go wrong is very long. No one has ever flown over Mars or over any other planet other than Earth. Of course, we send probes, orbiters, but they move at great heights in orbit thanks to engines and gravity, not because of propellers. "Ingenuity"'s Martian trials will be perhaps the most stressful period of my life for me and my team. "
A confidence in success - where does MiMi Aung get her?
MiMi Aung (Burmese American engineer and project manager) was born in the United States and moved to Myanmar when she was two and a half years old. She became interested in space science whilst she was a student at a British high school. She moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue her education. Aung studied electronic engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and earned her master's degree in 1990. Aung joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in 1990, where she has worked in projects related to spaceflight and the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN). In 2015 she lead for the Mars Helicopter. (Wikipedia).
Here is what Dr. MiMi Aung, who is participant of a small circle of Myanmar women involved the exact sciences, says to Ewelina Zambrzycka-Kościelnicka in an interview :
'The mood at JPL is extremely tense, we look forward to any information from Mars, believing that the rover that we have been working on for several years and spent millions of dollars has successfully landed on the Red Planet. (...)
My mother [Doctor of Mathematical Sciences, degree from an American university] was a completely logical person and, therefore, calm, confident, not falling into extreme emotions. She demanded a lot from others, although most of all from herself. (...)
The mother died three years ago, already during my work on "Ingenuity". Her rationality and, above all, her conviction, that anything can be done, if only enough effort is made to do it, constantly accompanied me.
I love math. ... If you only make the right calculations, then even a chaotic and complex problem becomes transparent ... ... everything "clicks", just like blocks that have fallen into the right places. But I don't think of myself as a woman mathematician or a woman engineer ...
Mathematics has no gender. The equations don't care, if they are solved by a woman, man, Myanmar woman, American woman, or Polish woman. It is important that everything is correctly decided. The same thing happens with any other science - whether we're talking about engineering and sending helicopters to Mars or gluing papyri. Science has no gender or nationality. You will not be a good scientist or engineer just because you wear pants or a skirt, or because you have this and not another citizenship. You will be good at something if you work on yourself, do not give up, constantly learn, including from your own mistakes. A real passion is necessary, a deep love for what is being done. Because only this allows you to make breakthroughs and not give up, despite adversity and the regularly falling words: "you will not succeed." And you know what? There is no greater joy than when you succeed to achieve success. " (https://www.focus.pl/artykul/helikopter-na-marsie?page=2)
I think that all readers of the interview, published in Focus.pl on February 12, 2021, are grateful to MiMi Aung and Ewelina Zambrzycka-Kościelnicka for the most interesting information.
Moreover, Russial citizens are pleased to learn about breakthroughs in the field of nanotechnology.
[MCIX. Fyodor Dostoevsky and the USSR space project. A literary note. - November 6, 2019.
MDXXI. A comparative history of the MIR space station and the Mirny Antarctic station. Essay on scientific and technical history. - June 26, 2020.
MDXXX. Liquidation of the supervisory-intellectual, space and literary intelligentsia. Common features and differences. The essay. - June 30, 2020.
MDCXLVII. How an inventor from USA launched the US space program. A sketch about the history of the space race. - August 16, 2020.
MDCCCLXXXIX. A Cosmic Throw in the information holding. A story. - December 9, 2020.
MMXXI. A fundamentally new space technology - a space helicopter. The note. - February 19, 2021.].
February 20, 2021 13:48
Translation from Russian into English: February 20, 2021 18:14.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский 'Долгожданный прорыв в нанотехнологиях. МиМи Аунг и космический вертолет Ingenuity. Суперкраткая рецензия'.