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Mars helicopter set to take flight on Sunday

In this artist's concept, NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter stands on the Red Planet's surface as NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover (partially visible on the left) rolls away. Ingenuity, a technology experiment, will be the first aircraft to attempt controlled flight on another planet. It will arrive on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021, attached to the belly of NASA's Perseverance rover. Perseverance will deploy Ingenuity onto the surface of Mars, and Ingenuity is expected to attempt its first flight test in spring 2021. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory built and will manage operations of Perseverance and Ingenuity for the agency. Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages JPL for NASA. NASA/JPL-Caltech
by: WRTV Staff
Posted: / Updated:

NASA announced this week the Ingenuity helicopter will attempt its first test flight over Mars on Monday. The flight is scheduled for Sunday, but results won’t make it back to Earth until Monday.

A livestream will be available on NASA’s YouTube and Facebook channels.

Ingenuity landed with the Perseverance rover, which has been beaming back HD images of Mars as part of its search for ancient life on the planet. Recently, NASA deployed Ingenuity’s protective case. During the course of April, Ingenuity is slated to make five flights.

Flying a helicopter on Mars can be daunting given that the planet has one-third Earth’s gravity, 1% of Earth’s atmosphere, and extremely cold temperatures. According to NASA, daytime temperatures can be as cold as minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit on Mars. Temperatures that cold can cause instruments to crack if not properly shielded from the cold.

“Every step we have taken since this journey began six years ago has been uncharted territory in the history of aircraft,” said Bob Balaram, Mars Helicopter chief engineer at JPL. “And while getting deployed to the surface will be a big challenge, surviving that first night on Mars alone, without the rover protecting it and keeping it powered, will be an even bigger one.”

But if Ingenuity can get off the ground, it could be another feat for NASA and space exploration.

On its first test flight, NASA plans to send it into the air for 30 seconds at a height of 10 feet. Within hours of the test flight, NASA hopes to receive images and videos from the helicopter.

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