Ingenuity helicopter manages to fly on Mars

NASA’s tiny Ingenuity helicopter made history today by making the first powered, controlled flight of an airplane on another planet, Mars.

The JPL-NASA team, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which was in charge of the mission from California, reported live on the receipt of data confirming that it had taken off, drifted, and landed again in Jezero crater on Mars.

In addition, a black and white photo was received taken by the helicopter in its shadow while in the air and a small video recorded by the Perseverance rover, which remains several meters away and serves as a communication link.

Confirmation that the tiny machine (1.8kg) has passed an incredibly difficult test with honors came at 10:46 GMT.

The solar-powered helicopter took off at 12:33 local mean solar time on Mars (07:34 GMT), ascended to the maximum prescribed height of 3 meters, hovered for 30 seconds to descend and hit the surface again. A total of 39.1 flight seconds.

The 278 million kilometers separating the two planets make it impossible to have live data – the delay is about 15 minutes – so Ingenuity received the instructions yesterday, but today he had to manage the flight himself.

After receiving the data, the JPL-NASA team erupted with cheers, applause and joy behind the masks.

Mimi Aung, project manager for Ingenuity at JPL, said, “Now we can say that humans have flown to another planet for the first time” and overwhelmed with emotions, she recalled the six years of work while ensuring that “As the covid-19 hadn’t been there, I’d hug all of his colleagues.

Flying on Mars is not an easy endeavor. Although gravity is about a third of ours, the pressure of the atmosphere on the surface is only 1% that of the Earth, so the blades had to spin much faster, 2537 revolutions per minute.

The whole process has been closely followed by the Perseverance rover, which has brought the helicopter in its “belly” to Mars and is securing its communications. On his Twitter profile, he wrote, “You can’t imagine what I just saw,” accompanied by a gif showing the flight, which he captured in color.

JPL emphasized in a tweet that “powered and controlled flight from the surface of another planet is possible. It takes some ingenuity, persistence and spirit to make this opportunity a reality.”

It was the first, but not the last time I tried. His mission lasts 30 suns (Martian days) in which he could fly five more times and, as the Olympic motto says, he will try to make it higher (up to five meters) and further.

Ingenuity radiates vulnerability, with a wingspan of 1.2 meters, it consists of a small cube-shaped body that houses sensors, cameras and batteries; two pairs of carbon fiber blades, one above the other, with an antenna and a small solar panel on top, and four thin legs for sitting on.

NASA broadcast live from the JLP space where the data was received. At 10:40 GMT, the engineer in charge of the reception, identified as Michael, spoke a laconic and neutral “start to see data,” and soon, “they seem nominal.”

A few minutes of tension kicked in as they came in and analyzed what was being received from Mars: telemetry, battery, telecamera report, the engineer kept saying in the same tone revealing no emotion.

Ultimately, NASA confirmed that “the data shows that the helicopter had a successful maiden flight.”

Ingenuity does not carry a scientific instrument as it is a proof of concept, a technological demonstration that it is possible to fly on the Red Planet, thus gaining knowledge and experience for future missions with possible flying equipment.

This company has been compared by NASA to the feat achieved in 1903 by the Wright brothers, who made the first powered flight. Ingenuity even carries a small piece of cloth from that plane’s wings under its rotors, and Aung still remembered them today.

NASA will be offering a press conference throughout the day with more details about the flight of the helicopter, which has written a page in the history of space, because as it was written on the wall of the JPL room, they dared to do powerful things to do .