The Ingenuity helicopter is expected to take to the Martian skies on Monday morning.
The small craft is part of a technology demonstration – a project that aims to test a new capability for the first time.
Data from the first flight will return to Earth a few hours after the autonomous test.
We re all spun up! Get up (or stay up) and join the #MarsHelicopter team live in mission control to find out if the first powered flight attempt on another planet was successful.
Mission Control LiveApril 19 at 3:15am PDT (6:15am EDT/1015 GMT)https://t.co/SCVeYsIfBhpic.twitter.com/kNExXpFSAd
Nasa to attempt first flight of helicopter Ingenuity on Mars Test would mark first powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet
about 2 hours ago
The Ingenuity helicopter seen on Mars as viewed by the Perseverance rover rear Hazard Camera on April 4th, 2021. Photograph: Nasa/JPL-Caltech/AFP via Getty Images
Nasa will on Monday attempt the first flight of a miniature helicopter over the surface of Mars in what would be the first powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet.
If all goes to plan, the 1.8kg (4lb) 4-pound (1.8kg) twin-rotor, solar-powered helicopter Ingenuity will slowly ascend straight up to an altitude of 3m (10ft) above the Martian surface, hover in place for 30 seconds, then rotate before descending to a gentle landing on all four legs.
VIDEO: Nasa s Mars helicopter makes history with successful flight on Red Planet
7 hours ago Nasa s experimental Mars helicopter Ingenuity hovers above the surface of Mars on Monday. AP
Nasa s miniature robot helicopter Ingenuity performed a successful takeoff and landing on Mars early on Monday, achieving the first powered, controlled flight by an aircraft over the surface of another planet, the US space agency said.
The solar-powered whirligig s debut on the Red Planet marked a 21st-century Wright Brothers moment for Nasa, which said success could pave the way for new modes of exploration on Mars and other destinations in the solar system, such as Venus and Saturn s moon Titan.
Nasa’s Ingenuity makes history with first controlled flight on Mars
Nasa’s Ingenuity makes history with first controlled flight on Mars (Nasa/JPL-Caltech)
Sign up for our daily newsletter of the top stories in Courier country
Thank you for signing up to The Courier daily newsletter
Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up
Nasa’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter has completed the first powered, controlled flight on another planet, the space agency has announced.
The small helicopter successfully took flight on the red planet on Monday, hovering in the air at about 10 feet (three metres), before descending and touching back down on the Martian surface.
By Press Association 2021
Artistâs impression issued by Nasa of their Mars 2020 Perseverance rover and Ingenuity Mars helicopter (Nasa-JPL-Caltech/AP)
Nasa scientists who successfully executed the first controlled flight on another planet said the Ingenuity Mars helicopter will be “pushed to the limit” during future tests.
Asked during a post-flight press conference if Nasa wants its helicopter to crash to show it has tested the full range of its capabilities, MiMi Aung, the project manager at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), said she expects it will “meet its limit”.
Nasa’s Ingenuity Mars miniature helicopter completed the first powered, controlled flight on another planet on Monday, and will attempt to complete four more test flights involving further distances and higher altitudes in the next two weeks.