NASA Mars Helicopter Ingenuity Takes Its First Flight!

Nasa helicopter called Ingenuity has taken its first flight. This helicopter scripted history by flying into thin air and landing on the red planet. It is a small-sized robot that is hovering the red planet. On Monday, 19 April 2021, it had its first powered atmospheric flight. 

• Launch date: 30 July 2020
• Landing date: 18 February 2021, 20:55 UTC
• Power: 350 watts
• Landing mass: : Total: 1.8 kg (4.0 lb); Batteries: 273 g (9.6 oz);
• Manufacturer: Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Ingenuity is the first airplane structured to ever fly over another planet. Its lift-off took place at 7:30 GMT according to the local time on Monday. This drone overcomes extreme conditions like cold, dryness, storms, etc. Ingenuity is an $85 million project with an autonomous copter spinner with filter blades made up of carbon fiber. It can fly into thin air at 10 feet distance from the surface.

The company Jet propulsion laboratory

The manufacturing company was overwhelmed with this historic achievement. This rotor is the first airplane to fly over another planet other than Earth. “The small-sized rotorcraft that could. Ingenuity documented its historic ascent today. Here’s the #MarsHelicopter’s POV during the first flight,” NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory tweeted.

The first flight of ingenuity took place above 10 feet and landed back to the ground. It hovered around the red planet for 30 seconds more, capturing the surrounding of the surface. The camera installed on the craft captured images that made engineers smile. 

Why is it difficult to fly on Mars?

The red planet has thin air, which does not allow anything to fly higher. The air forces or pushes the object down. The surface of Mars is dense as 1/100th in comparison to the earth’s surface. And due to gravity issues, anything cannot fly higher. But taking a flight of altitude 10ft is just like an altitude of 100,000 feet on Earth.