I'm not sure if the density plays into this too much. Gravity would probably play a bigger role as the gravity is only 38% of Earth's so it would need less wind to move
Wind forces in the 17 mbar tests (mentioned in the article) are roughly twice as strong as those on Mars, but still about 60x weaker than on Earth at full atmospheric pressure (1013 hPa (= 1013 mbar)).
The lower gravity might compensate for the pressure in the test being about twice as high.
The phys.org article mentions it: "[...] the team carried out static and dynamic tests in a wind tunnel with a variety of wind speeds and ground surfaces under a low atmospheric pressure of 17 millibars.
Results showed that wind speeds of 9–10 meters per second were sufficient to set the rover in motion over a range of Mars-like terrains, including smooth and rough surfaces, sand, pebbles and boulder field."
Ah, thanks, I missed that. It's weird how that information is in the phys.org article but not in the linked abstract. I guess that's because it's just an abstract -- they must have given more details during the presentation.
This looks cool, but won't these get stuck in ditches, or small craters?
Also, Mars's atmosphere is supposedly quite thinner isn't it? So it would require more wind than on Earth to push these things, no?
I'm not sure if the density plays into this too much. Gravity would probably play a bigger role as the gravity is only 38% of Earth's so it would need less wind to move
Wind forces in the 17 mbar tests (mentioned in the article) are roughly twice as strong as those on Mars, but still about 60x weaker than on Earth at full atmospheric pressure (1013 hPa (= 1013 mbar)).
The lower gravity might compensate for the pressure in the test being about twice as high.
Where did you find info about the pressure they tested at? I don't see it at https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC-DPS2025/EPSC-DP... or https://phys.org/news/2025-09-tumbleweed-rover-technology-ma...
The phys.org article mentions it: "[...] the team carried out static and dynamic tests in a wind tunnel with a variety of wind speeds and ground surfaces under a low atmospheric pressure of 17 millibars.
Results showed that wind speeds of 9–10 meters per second were sufficient to set the rover in motion over a range of Mars-like terrains, including smooth and rough surfaces, sand, pebbles and boulder field."
Ah, thanks, I missed that. It's weird how that information is in the phys.org article but not in the linked abstract. I guess that's because it's just an abstract -- they must have given more details during the presentation.