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First in Flight: NASA Just Proved Flying on Mars Is Possible Next Up Is the Solar System
With Ingenuity’s five successful flights on the Red Planet, aviation may find unexpected footing in the future of space exploration
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NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter captured this image of its shadow during the rotorcraft s second experimental test flight on April 22, 2021. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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Picture the scene: A small drone the size of a suitcase descends into a dark Martian crevasse perhaps a lava tube that was formed billions of years ago by volcanic activity on the Red Planet. The drone illuminates its surroundings, recording views never seen before by human eyes as its suite of instruments seeks out signs of past or present alien biology. Finally, its reconnaissance complete, the drone flies back to a landing zone on the surface to transmit invaluable data back to Earth. After soaking up the Martian sunlight to recharge its batteries, it continues its explo
April 19
th saw what some have christened “a second Wright Brothers moment” namely, the successful first powered controlled flight by an aircraft on another world. Reaching Mars on the underside of the Perseverance rover, the tiny, autonomous Mars Ingenuity Helicopter (5.4’ x 7.7’ x 6.4”) spun its 4-foot rotors and hovered 10 feet off the ground for 30 seconds. By its third flight, a few days later, Ingenuity would rise 16 feet (5 m) up, and fly 164 feet (50 meters) at a top speed of 6.6 ft/sec (2 m/sec).
ABE PECK, Executive Editor, Inside Unmanned Systems
Back in 1903, the Wright Brothers logged 120 feet to complete the first controlled heavier-than-air powered flight. Now, squaring that circle, Ingenuity carries a piece of fabric from the wing of the Wright Flyer, and its flight site is called Wright Brothers Field
Inside Ingenuity With AeroVironment, Part One: Designing It
April 19
th saw what some have christened “a second Wright Brothers moment” namely, the successful first powered controlled flight by an aircraft on another world. Reaching Mars on the underside of the Perseverance rover, the tiny, autonomous Mars Ingenuity Helicopter (5.4’ x 7.7’ x 6.4”) spun its 4-foot rotors and hovered 10 feet off the ground for 30 seconds. By its third flight, a few days later, Ingenuity would rise 16 feet (5 m) up, and fly 164 feet (50 meters) at a top speed of 6.6 ft/sec (2 m/sec). Back in 1903, the Wright Brothers logged 120 feet to complete the first controlled heavier-than-air powered flight. Now, squaring that circle, Ingenuity carries a piece of fabric from the wing of the Wright Flyer, and its flight site is called Wright Brothers Field.