16 hours ago
NASA has just flown a helicopter on Mars. Named Ingenuity, the craft hovered for about 40 seconds above the Red Planet’s surface. This marks the first flight of a spacecraft on a planet other than Earth.
In the wee hours on April 19, the helicopter spun its rotor blades and ascended into the thin Martian air. It rose about three meters (or 10 feet) above the ground. After pivoting to look at NASA’s Perseverance rover and snap a picture of its own shadow, the small copter settled back down to the ground.
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter took this photo of its own shadow while hovering about three meters (10 feet) in the Martian air on April 19.JPL-Caltech/NASA
Editor’s note: This story will be updated periodically.
A helicopter just flew on Mars. NASA’s Ingenuity hovered for about 40 seconds above the Red Planet’s surface, marking the first flight of a spacecraft on another planet.
In the wee hours on April 19, the helicopter spun its carbon fiber rotor blades and lifted itself into the thin Martian air. It rose about three meters above the ground, pivoted to look at NASA’s Perseverance rover, took a picture, and settled back down to the ground.
As data from the flight started coming in to Ingenuity’s mission control room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, Calif., at about 6:35 a.m. EDT, a hush fell. And then cheers erupted as Håvard Grip, Ingenuity’s guidance, navigation and control lead, announced: “Confirmed that Ingenuity has performed its first flight, the first flight of a powered aircraft on another planet.”
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter will attempt to take flight on the Red Planet early Monday morning, and you’ll be able to watch live as the NASA team tracks this historic test from mission control.
NASA’s
Ingenuity Mars helicopter is seen in a close-up taken by Mastcam-Z, a pair of zoomable cameras aboard the
Perseverance rover. This image was taken on April 5, 2021, the 45th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
NASA is targeting no earlier than Sunday, April 11, for its
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s first attempt at powered, controlled flight on another planet via rotor blades that are constructed from carbon fiber and foam core. To mark a month of
Ingenuity flights, the agency will host several events to bring people along for the ride.
A livestream confirming