NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter successfully made its maiden flight on Mars today, according to data and images sent back to Earth.
The BBC and AFP reported that a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer announced that “altimeter data confirms that the Ingenuity Helicopter has completed its first flight, the first flight of a powered vehicle on another planet. The control room erupted in joy.
A short video from the Mars Exploration Rover Perseverance shows the 1.8-kg helicopter hovering 3 meters above the Martian surface before landing.
Innovation was scheduled to make its maiden flight on the 11th, but NASA found potential problems with the rotor blades during high-rpm testing, thus delaying the maiden flight.
NASA said Innovation’s unprecedented mission was extremely risky and a major challenge, because Mars air is thin and atmospheric pressure is less than 1% of the Earth.
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