NASA finally has a new flight date for its Mars helicopter after a bug fix caused a delay. The space agency now expects to fly Ingenuity “no earlier than” April 19 at approximately 3:30 am Eastern Time. However, don’t worry about staying up all night to come along. A live stream with the data download won’t start until 6:15 a.m. East when things are running smoothly, and the post-flight briefing isn’t scheduled until 2:00 p.m. East.
The mission team had originally hoped to fly Ingenuity on April 11, but a problem with the order of the commandos on April 9 had to push back the flight. NASA recently completed a spin test for the helicopter.
The flight will take only 30 seconds, intended to verify that the plane can fly at all. You will have to wait for the four follow-up flights to see it roaming the surface of Mars. Still, it will be a historic moment if everything goes according to plan. Unsurprisingly, NASA is therefore cautious – there is a lot of driving on this mission besides the fate of a small drone.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we can earn an affiliate commission.