NASA - Mars Helicopter Ingenuity logo.
April 4, 2021
Ingenuity, who arrived on Mars with Perseverance, is now separated from the rover and will soon be on his own in exploring the red planet
Image above: NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter stands on the Red Planet's surface as NASA's Perseverance rover (partially visible) rolls away. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
NASA's Ingenuity mini-helicopter, which arrived on Mars in February attached to the Perseverance rover, has just detached from it and is therefore now on the surface of the Red Planet, NASA said. This ultralight helicopter, which looks like a large drone, had arrived folded up and strapped under the Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars on February 18, and remained there until the rover reached where it should have take place the flight.
NASA JPL on Twitter
“Its 293 million mile (471 million km) journey ended with this small 4 inch (10 cm) jump from the rover's belly to the surface of Mars. Next test: survive the night, ”the NASA lab in charge tweeted. A photo accompanying the tweet showed Perseverance rolling away from the helicopter. He absolutely needs to clear his sight in less than 25 hours, because the helicopter will need the sun to power its solar panels, and thus be able to survive by warming up during the freezing Martian nights.
Still a few days before the first flight
Ingenuity has so far fed off the rover's energy, but now it will have to fend for itself. "There is a small radiator which makes it possible to maintain a temperature of around 7 ° Celsius inside the helicopter, while the temperatures at night on Mars can drop to -90 °", explained Friday Bob Balaram, chief engineer of the Mars Helicopter project.
NASA’s Mars Helicopter Ingenuity (Trailer)
"This helps protect the key equipment of the device," he added. For the next two days, the ground crew will verify that the solar panels are working as expected, before starting to test the motors and sensors before the first flight, which is not expected to take place until April 11.
Related links:
Perseverance Mars Rover: http://www.nasa.gov/perseverance
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter: https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter
Images (mentioned), Video (NASA), Text, Credits: NASA/JPL/AFP/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
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