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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
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Taryn Bailey is a mechanical engineer working for NASA and is currently working as part of the team on Ingenuity (the Perseverance Mars rover’s helicopter pal which will hopefully take flight on April 19 after a short delay). Bailey describes her work a bit like a puzzle, being responsible for interpreting how a satellite or robot needs to be put together in order to function on another planet. Here, she demonstrates how enthusiasm can create opportunities and why you should never rule out your dream job just because you don’t love math.
What did it take to get here?
Ingenuity has successfully taken off and re-landed on the surface of Mars.
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“We can now say that human beings have flown a rotorcraft on another planet,” says MiMi Aung, Ingenuity’s project manager.
The spacecraft – a drone-like probe which travelled to Mars alongside NASA’s Perseverance rover – rose just over 3m from the planet’s surface, hovered for around 30s before landing. Artist’s impression of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter flying through Martian sky. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“First flight is all about being able to demonstrate that we can fly on another planet,” says mechanical engineer Taryn Bailey who helped develop Ingenuity, before the flight.