Ingenuity (Helicopter)

ChinmayaIAS Academy - Current Affairs April 5, 2021 GS, GS3 Leave a comment 381 Views

In a first, US space agency NASA is preparing to fly a mini-helicopter on Mars. For this NASA has sent a small Ingenuity Helicopter with Perseverance rover to Mars. With the help of this helicopter, untouched aspects of Mars will be explored. NASA has even released its picture for the first time.
The four-pound, four-blade rotorcraft will attempt the first flight of its kind on another planet, and in the process, it will test a new mode of mobility.
The craft is currently attached to the belly of Perseverance, which landed at Mars’ Jezero crater in February.
According to news reports, the team of rover tweeted on Monday with a photo, “Away goes the debris shield, and here’s our first look at the helicopter. It’s stowed sideways, folded up, and locked in place, so there’s some reverse origami to do before I can set it down. First, though, I’ll be off to the designated helipad,” a couple of days’ drive from here.
NASA said that it is not possible to test this helicopter before the first week of April.
The teams operating Ingenuity and NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover have chosen the flight zone where the helicopter will attempt the first powered, controlled flights on another planet.
Perseverance with Ingenuity attached to its belly-landed in Jezero Crater on February 18.
NASA is close to making history on Mars
NASA scientists said that no rotorcraft or drone helicopter has been sent to any planet other than Earth before it. This is the first time the Ingenuity helicopter will fly on Mars.
If its experimental flight test program succeeds, then a vehicle such as a drone or rotorcroft can be sent to other planets in the future. The data returned could benefit future explorations of the Red Planet including those by astronauts by adding the aerial dimension, which is not available today
In another major success for the US space agency NASA, its Mars helicopter Ingenuity has been dropped on the surface of the Red Planet ahead of its historic first flight scheduled for April 11.
Ingenuity is a small robotic helicopter located on Mars since February 18, 2021 that is intended to make the first powered atmospheric flight on a planet beyond Earth.
Part of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission, the small coaxial, drone rotorcraft will serve as a technology demonstrator for the potential use of flying probes on other worlds, with the potential to scout locations of interest and support the future planning of driving routes for Mars rovers.
Ingenuity, now on the Martian surface, was attached to the underside of the Perseverance rover.