NASA’s INGENUITY Successfully Remained Airborne For A Minute
NASA live streamed the first test flight data as it reached the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California
After a long-struggling period spanning over six years, NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity successfully conducted a flight over the Martian surface. The little helicopter hovered in the air for around a minute and became the first controlled flight on another planet from Earth.
The confirmation of the flight made its way to the Earth through a satellite on Mars.
Ingenuity, the ultra-lightweight robot, was scheduled to take off into the Martian sky. This maneuver is the first powered and controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet.
Moreover, NASA broadcasted a live stream of the first test flight data as it reached Ingenuity’s mission team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California.
MiMi Aung, Ingenuity project manager at JPL had written in a NASA blog post, ” We’re doing everything we can to make it a success, but we also know that we may have to scrub and try again”.
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She added, “In engineering, there is always uncertainty, but this is what makes working on advanced technology so exciting and rewarding”.
NASA received images and video of the flight from cameras installed over the top of the helicopter.
The cameras installed on the Perseverance rover, parked 76 meters away from the flight area of the rotorcraft, were also used to film videos and take photos.
This flight was NASA’s second attempt to fly Ingenuity on Mars, whereas it was delayed last time due to a technical glitch on April 9.
Looking at the details of operations, NASA’s Perseverance rover acted as the communicator between the helicopter, orbiting spacecraft assisting the flight, and mission control.
Aung said in a press conference, “Up until now, we have been talking to Ingenuity every day since Ingenuity was dropped perfectly by the Perseverance rover to the surface”.
Interestingly, flying Ingenuity on Mars was not an easy task, the atmosphere of the Red planet is very unpredictable than planet Earth.
She had said, “If our initial approach to flight does not work, the rover will send the new flight control software to the helicopter and we will then require several additional days of preparation to load and test the new software on Ingenuity”.
