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NASA’s “Perseverance” rover has successfully landed on Mars. Launched in July 2020 from the Cape Canaveral spaceport, the robot landed with a risky maneuver in a dry lake called “Jezero Crater” that had never before been examined at the site. Shortly after landing, the rover was already sending the first images to Earth.
The rover, which cost about $ 2.5 billion (about 2.2 billion euros), was designed and built over about eight years and is primarily intended to search for traces of earlier microbial life on Mars. The robot, which weighs about 1,000 kilograms, carries an ultralight helicopter called “Ingenuity” in its luggage. It is said that “wit”, in English for “wit”, flies in the Martian atmosphere. Which is a particular challenge, because the Martian atmosphere is only about one percent the density of Earth’s atmosphere.
Lots of battery to heat the drone
Therefore, NASA engineers had to build the drone as light as possible so that it could take off in the extremely thin Martian atmosphere. It weighs only 1.8 kilograms and consists of four feet, a missile, and two propellers. The propellers rotate 2400 times per minute, about five times faster than a normal helicopter.
“Ingenuity” is equipped with four solar panels to recharge its batteries. A large part of the energy is required to warm up the aircraft again after night temperatures of minus 90 degrees. “Ingenuity” can take photos and videos of Mars during its flights.
90 second flights
“Ingenuity” is expected to complete up to five flights over the surface of Mars. The aircraft can climb up to five meters and fly up to 300 meters. In the first test, however, a significantly shorter distance must be covered. Each flight can last up to a minute and a half. NASA emphasizes that this is not little “compared to the twelve seconds” it took for the first powered flight on Earth.
Since the transmission of data from Mars to Earth takes about 20 minutes, Ingenuity is not controlled remotely, but flies independently. NASA only issues basic commands and the »Ingenuity« uses a series of sensors to orient itself. Flight results will only be available some time later.
The meaning? Prove it works
NASA speaks of “Ingenuity” as a demonstration mission. It has no other scientific goal than to prove that flying is possible on Mars. In addition, NASA wants to collect data from an airplane on another planet with the project.
In the future, these planes could “usher in a whole new era in Mars exploration,” says the project’s chief engineer, Bob Balaram. For example, they could reach areas where rovers can’t. It is also conceivable that such mini-helicopters could “report” to a station on Mars in the future, that is, they could deliver their measurement data, images, and rock samples there.
