Ingenuity Mars Helicopter:
NASA has re-established contact with its Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, the US space agency said recently
- Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is a small, autonomous aircraft that flew to Mars aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover.
- It was sent to Mars to perform experimental flight tests to determine if powered, controlled flight at the Red Planet was possible.
- Ingenuity’s mission is experimental in nature and completely independent of the rover’s science mission.
- Ingenuity was deployed to the surface on April 4, 2021.
- On April 19, it became the first aircraft in history to make a powered, controlled flight on another planet.
- It managed to fly in Mars’ thin atmosphere, which isn’t conducive for flying.
- It’s piloted by onboard guidance, navigation, and control systems running algorithms.
- Perseverance acts as a relay between the chopper and the earth.
