NASA helicopter set for flight over Mars
After a nearly 300 million–mile journey to Mars aboard the Perseverance rover, the Ingenuity helicopter is ready to make its historic maiden flight.
“Our goal, plain and simple, is to prove that we can fly on Mars. Once we do that we hope that this is going to blow the doors open for future of Martian exploration,” Ingenuity deputy operations lead Teddy Tzanetos said from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The rover carrying Ingenuity landed on Mars on Feb. 18 after an eightmonth voyage from Kennedy Space Center. Percy, as the rover is known, has been busy conducting science experiments while Ingenuity has been preparing for its debut.
The 4-pound helicopter recently completed some milestones: It successfully deployed from underneath the rover, charged its batteries and survived the frigid Martian night, which can drop to as low as minus-130 degrees Fahrenheit.
The first attempt of a powered controlled flight on another planet was set for Sunday. Tzanetos said the first flight will consist of a simple takeoff, hover around 15 feet off the ground and land. The team is targeting the following flights to last around 90 seconds.
“Unlocking that aerial dimension we think is going to be very exciting for humanity and for scientists within NASA and the larger exploration community. We really think that this is going to be that breakthrough moment for us to try out new ways to explore Mars,” Tzanetos said.
The team plans to demonstrate the helicopter’s flying abilities with several flights for up to 31 days. Percy will provide support during flight operations, taking images, collecting environmental data and hosting the base station that enables the helicopter to communicate with mission controllers on Earth.
Tzanetos compared Ingenuity to Sojourner, the first rover to land on Mars, which proved the technology was viable and that lead to the rovers that followed.
“We hope Ingenuity will do the same for the future of Martian aerial exploration,” he said.
Due to time delays between Earth and Mars and the time required to download the data from Ingenuity, NASA will not live-stream the flight.