S.T.E.M. for the Classroom
Original illustration by Meha Magesh
meters AGL with a maximum Ground Distance of 600
meters downrange from the rover. These numbers will
serve as our constraints for the MHS app.
Scientists on Earth feed the MHS its flight information,
and off it goes. The information given to the MHS consists
of three parts:
1. Desired Altitude (in meters AGL)
2. Desired Ground Distance away from the rover (in
meters)
3. Desired Hover Time (in seconds)
The Rover and FTP form a right triangle, which can be
solved easily using trigonometric and triangle identities!
Example
Scientists on Earth want the MHS to go to a FTP that
is 400 meters downrange with an altitude of 100 meters
AGL, and a hover time of 60 seconds so that the MHS
can take a image of the rover. Find the Round Trip Dis-
tance, Climb Angle, and Average Speed of the MHS.
The maximum flight path capability of the MHS, with a maximum downrange
distance of 600 meters and a maximum altitude of 120 meters AGL (Graph is
NOT drawn to scale). Credit: S.T.E.M. For the Classroom
We can use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the
Distance to the FTP, which is the hypotenuse of the right
triangle. The tangent ratio is used to determine the climb
angle (in degrees). The Travel Time becomes the Flight
Time Capacity minus the Hover Time. We can then use
that information to calculate the average speed of the
MHS.
21
www. RocketSTEM .org 21