NASA’s experimental helicopter on Mars took off from the dusty red surface of Mars on Monday to complete its first powered, controlled flight over another planet.
The triumph has been compared to the achievement of the Wright brothers. In fact, the tiny 4-pound device called the Ingenuity carried a piece of wing cloth from the Wright plane that made history in 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
“The altimeter data confirms that Ingenuity has made its maiden flight, the first flight of a powered aircraft on another planet,” said helicopter lead pilot Havard Greap, whose voice broke when his companions exploded in cheers.
Flight leaders in California confirmed Ingenuity’s short flight after receiving data through the Perseverance vehicle, which was on watch more than 65 meters away. Ingenuity traveled to Mars with the Volharding, attached to the underside of the vehicle upon arrival in the old river delta last February.
The $ 85 million prototype was seen as a high-risk project with the potential for big rewards.
“Each world has only one first flight,” Aung said this month. Speaking on NASA’s broadcast early Monday morning, he described it as “ the ultimate dream. ”
Aung and his team had to wait more than three harrowing hours to learn if the planned flight at 287 million kilometers (178 million miles) had been successful. In addition to his concerns, a software glitch prevented the helicopter from taking off the week before, forcing engineers to find a solution.
The operations center erupted with applause, cheers, and laughter when its success was finally announced. There was more when Ingenuity’s first black and white image appeared on their screens, showing the shadow as it hovered above the surface of Mars. Then came the stunning color photos of the helicopter descending to the surface, taken by Perseverance, “the best host that little Ingenuity could ever dream of,” Aung said, thanking everyone.
NASA had planned a 40-second flight, and although there was little detail at first, the aircraft fulfilled all of its objectives: start-up, take-off, flight, descent, and landing.