The first flight of a small helicopter to Mars. Conducted by NASA after the April 8-AV Watch

Small helicopter “Ingenuity” lands on Mars (pictured)
(C) NASA / JBL-Caltech

On March 23, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) announced that the first flight of the Mars rover “diligence” miniature helicopter “ingenuity” would take place after April 8. The shape of the first aircraft will be taken by a camera mounted on the Mars rover diligence and sent to Earth.

The small helicopter is stored beneath Mars’ “diligence”
(C) NASA / JBL-Caltech

The “Ingenuity” is a small helicopter that weighs 4 pounds (1.8 kg), stands 19 inches (0.49 m) high, and has a solar power generation function. It has a computer, a navigation sensor and a camera for color photography and black and white photography, and it is stored under the Mars rover.

The gravity of Mars is 1/3 of the Earth, the atmospheric density is only 1% of the Earth, the size of the solar cell during the day is half of the Earth, and the temperature drops to minus 90 degrees at night, it is protected. Helicopter flight to Mars is said to be more difficult than flying on Earth because unused electronic components are at risk of freezing or damage.

It is designed to be small and light enough to fly even in the environment of Mars
(C) NASA / JBL-Caltech

Ingenuity is designed to be small and lightweight, so that when fitted to a Mars rover it can fly in a different Martian environment from Earth, and a heater is configured so that it can survive even faster than a certain amount of charge.

Currently, the Mars Rover diligently moves to an “airport” that is large (10 x 10 meters), where helicopters can arrive and depart. After reaching the target, the launch sequence will take 6 days (6 days and 4 hours on Earth) on Mars.

Mars rover “diligence” and small helicopter “ingenuity”
(C) NASA / JBL-Caltech

The novelty will make its first flight to Mars when all arrangements are completed with charging and landing gear deployment. Rotate the rotor to 2,537 rpm, increasing the height by 3 feet (1 meter) and finally rotating for 10 seconds (3 meters) from the surface for 30 seconds.

The shape of the first aircraft will be photographed and sent to Earth by a navigation camera fitted with the Mars rover diligence and a camera installed on the mast. After that, images of ingenuity and internal cameras are expected to be sent to Earth in a few days.