NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover is set to deliver a four-pound helicopter from its womb next month. The very first powered flight is expected to fly over the Martian plains.
(Photo: NASA / JPL-Caltech)
Portrait of perseverance and ingenuity (artist concept)
“Ingenuity’s test flights are scheduled to begin no earlier than the first week of April,” NASA officials wrote in a mission update. “The exact timing of the first flight will remain fluid as engineers work out details on the timing of deployments and positioning of Perseverance and Ingenuity vehicles,” NASA reported that its helicopter unit had chosen a location for the flights.
Ingenuity, an $ 85 million rotorcraft, could pave the way for a new approach to discovering other worlds. The drone will perform up to five test flights this spring, although this is only a technical demonstration for now.
If that works, Ingenuity may be able to return some amazing images. Perseverance would most likely be to follow thefts with your own devices.
Unknown conditions could thwart Ingenuity’s efforts as no one has ever flown a helicopter on Mars. Another groundbreaking Mars invention, a “mole” on NASA’s InSight lander designed to sink deep into the planet’s surface, was unable to complete its mission in January due to unusually dense soil .
How will ingenuity help perseverance on Mars?
Perseverance, which landed inside the 45km-wide Jezero Crater on the Red Planet on February 18, also has ingenuity hidden in its belly. Perseverance would deploy innovation on the red earth and move about 100 meters until it lands on the selected airfield.
According to members of the mission team, the six-wheeled rover would attempt to record the flights of the small helicopter using its Mastcam-Z video suite and two microphones.
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Ingenuity is a research program intended to pave the way for future aerial exploration of Mars. Space.com says the helicopter is equipped with a high-resolution camera but no scientific instruments. NASA officials have said that if Ingenuity’s flights are successful, Red Planet’s potential missions could involve helicopters that serve as scouts for the rovers and / or collect data on their own.
“It will truly be a Wright Brothers moment, but on another planet,” MiMi Aung, project manager for the helicopter team, told Business Insider. “Each step forward will be the first of a kind.”
Perseverance will continue to work seriously on its main goal after helping Ingenuity take off. The rover will search for evidence of prehistoric life on Mars and collect hundreds of samples, which will be returned to Earth through a NASA-European Space Agency collaborative exploration campaign starting in 2031.
NASA presents preview of early helicopter flights to Mars
On Tuesday, March 23, at 1:30 p.m. EDT (10:30 a.m. PDT), NASA will host a mock press conference to discuss the future activities of the agency’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter.
The flight zone where Ingenuity and NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover can attempt the first operated and managed flights to another planet has been selected by teams running Ingenuity and NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover.
The briefing will be broadcast live on NASA TV, the NASA app and the agency’s website. They were also streaming the briefing live on various agency social media sites, including NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Southern California’s YouTube and Facebook channels.
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