NASA Celebrates First Drone Flight on Mars
NASA celebrates another success. The US space agency successfully completed the first helicopter drone flight on Mars.
- NASA has made the first drone flight on Mars;
- Ingenuity took to the air for less than a minute;
- Scientists are planning further flights in the coming days.
After having succesfully landed the Perseverance rover on Mars, NASA celebrates another success. The agency managed to make the first controlled flight on another planet. It was done with the help of a drone called Ingenuity, which was brought to the surface together with the rover. It rose into the air at a height of about 3 meters for less than a minute, but the achievement caused euphoria among the scientists. They are planning longer flights in the near future.
Ingenuity is a medium-sized drone less than 50 centimeters tall and more than a meter wide. It moves thanks to two propellers and electric power from batteries charged by a small solar panel. At first glance, its design does not differ significantly from machines used on Earth. However, adapting the drone to Martian conditions was not easy. All because of much less dense atmosphere. This forced the engineers to radically reduce the mass of the vehicle. Its propellers, in turn, move at a speed of up to 2500 RPM. Only such a design would enable one to fly a rotor wing under such unique conditions.
Although the achievement seems inconspicuous, it is in fact a very important event for the entire NASA. As MiMi Aung, who manages the team working on Ingenuity, said, the first flight on Mars is one of the great steps made by humans in terms of space exploration.
MiMi Aung referred to the Wright brothers' achievement in her speech. They were the creators of the world's first powered heavier-than-air aircraft. As a tribute, Ingenuity took a small piece of fabric from their invention, the Wright Flyer, with it to Mars.
In the following days, the drone will go on further expeditions. In doing so, it will transmit images of the Martian surface, both in black and white and in color. The possibility of exploring an alien planet using not only ground vehicles, but also flying objects, completely changes the way we get to know it. Ingenuity's successful test means that we may see more of these types of machines operating on the Red Planet in the future.
