Ingenuity, a small helicopter drone, achieved the first powered flight on another planet in April 2021. This groundbreaking feat demonstrated the viability of aerial exploration on Mars.
Ingenuity became the first aircraft to fly on another world in the first half of 2021. It explored the Martian terrain from above, proving that powered air flight was a very efficient way to move around alien worlds. Ingenuity was a small helicopter, or rather more a drone, that was carried to Mars on board the Perseverance rover mission in 2020. It was designed as a technology demonstration to prove that powered flight was possible in the thin atmosphere of Mars .
It made its first flight on 19 April 2021 and hovered just 10 feet above the ground before safely landing again. Since then, Ingenuity has completed 60 flights on Mars, helping to survey and scout for areas of interest for further study. This view of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was generated using data collected by the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard the agency's Perseverance Mars rover on Aug. 2, 2023, the 871st Martian day, or sol, of the mission, one day before the rotorcraft's 54th flight. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS) Operating a drone in the Martian atmosphere offers challenges largely due to the lower density. Compared to Earth, the atmosphere is less than 1% the density of Earth's atmosphere. This means the blades on any aerial vehicles need to work harder and generate more lift than their Earth-bound counterparts. Image of the Martian atmosphere and surface obtained by the Viking 1 orbiter in June 1976. (Credit: NASA/Viking 1) Density aside, the fine dust on the surface of Mars is often lifted up into the atmosphere which could damage the delicate mechanisms of operating craft. Not only must these types of vehicles be carefully designed to fly in alien atmospheres but they must also be able to protect themselves from local hazards. Moving on from the success of the Ingenuity drone, NASA has released a rendering of its next-generation vehicle for aerial flight on Mars, known as the Mars Chopper. Ingenuity was a feasibility study and proved aerial flight successful
MARS SPACE EXPLORATION DRONE INGENUITY AERIAL FLIGHT
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NASA is investigating the Ingenuity helicopter's final flight on MarsJeremy is a Malaysian freelance writer who loves video games and technology. He reports on tech news at Engadget, and his work has been featured on Cloudwards, MyNextTablet, and Quantum Zeitgeist. In addition to competitive gaming, Jeremy enjoys Chinese martial arts and reading. Ask him about Snake from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
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