After a few delays, the Mars Helicopter – Ingenuity took flight on the Martian surface on April 19, 2021. This is the first flight of its kind, a maneuver controlled from the NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. It was the first powered, guided flight on another planet. The ultra-lightweight robot helicopter will lift up to approximately 3 meters high for some 20 seconds and descend back down to the ground landing on the Jezero Crater where the flight began. "The main reason is that the atmosphere is very, very thin
. It's about one percent of the density of the atmosphere at [Earth's] sea level. That's the equivalent of about 100,000 feet of altitude on Earth, or three times the height of Mount Everest. We don't generally fly things that high. Commercial airliners fly at about 35,000 feet; the Earth record for helicopter altitude at about 41,000 feet … Mars has a thinner atmosphere than Earth, but that's not really enough to counteract the effects of that thin atmosphere." stated Amelia Quon, according to Urrutia, D.E (2021).
References:
Urrutia, D.E (April 19, 2021) NASA’s Mars Helicopter Ingenuity is Ready to Make Its First Attempt Monday. Space.com: https://www.space.com/mars-helicopter-ingenuity-ready-for-first-flight
Comments