A planetary engineer plans a drone mission on Mars where thruster fuel efficiency is 0.45 km per gram. To cross a 180 km canyon and return, the drone uses 120 grams on the way, how much extra fuel is needed for the return?

Sun, 03 May 2026 11:36:47 +0000

**A planetary engineer plans a drone mission on Mars where thruster fuel efficiency is 0.45 km per gram. To cross a 180 km canyon and return, the drone uses 120 grams on the way—how much extra fuel is needed for the return?** In the growing conversation around interplanetary exploration, even the most precise metrics are capturing attention—especially when they reveal the hidden challenges of missions beyond Earth’s atmosphere. A planetary engineer designing drone routes on Mars faces exacting demands: every gram of fuel matters in the thin Martian atmosphere, where navigation efficiency can mean the difference between mission success and failure. When a drone travels 120 grams to cross an 180 km canyon, understanding how much extra fuel is required for the return involves more than simple arithmetic—it reflects real-world engineering constraints in space exploration. The key to solving this insight lies in fuel efficiency: the thruster’s capability of 0.45 kilometers per gram means each gram delivers half a kilometer of travel. Crossing 180 km requires a minimum of 180 ÷ 0.45 = 400 grams of fuel. Since the drone already used 120 grams going out, the remaining fuel reserve is 400 – 120 = 280 grams—but that’s not the full answer. Returning demands covering the same 180 km, using another 400 grams. Therefore, after the initial outbound 120 grams, the drone still needs **280 grams more** just to complete the full round trip. But this calculation only covers powernomics—it doesn’t include losses from thruster wear, trajectory adjustments, or environmental variables unique to Mars’ rugged terrain. Engineers plan carefully, factoring in safety margins to handle unexpected conditions.