NASA Prepares Mars Helicopter for Historic First Extraterrestrial Flight
NASA plans to launch the Ingenuity helicopter to Mars later this year to attempt the first-ever powered flight on another planet. The four-pound craft faces immense atmospheric challenges but serves only as a technology demonstrator for future aerial exploration.
NASA prepares to launch its Mars 2020 rover mission later this year, carrying a groundbreaking helicopter named Ingenuity that attempts the first powered atmospheric flight on another planet. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory creates a simulated trailer to show exactly what this historic flight looks like, with the actual event scheduled to occur after the targeted February 18, 2021 arrival on the Red Planet.
Although Ingenuity looks like a simple dual-rotor drone, it overcomes significant technical challenges just to get off the ground. The four-pound craft lacks scientific instruments and operates solely as a demonstrator to pave the way for future aerial exploration vehicles. Flying on Mars requires much more lift than on Earth due to the thin atmosphere, making even a basic short hop a monumental engineering achievement.
Because of these harsh atmospheric conditions, each test flight lasts only about 90 seconds and reaches a maximum height of 16.5 feet, which feels easy on Earth but equates to flying at roughly 100,000 feet in our home atmosphere. Despite the operational hurdles created by the COVID-19 pandemic, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine emphasizes that the mission remains a top priority since the optimal launch window between July 17 and August 5 only opens once every two years.