Mars Helicopter Ingenuity

Introduction

Mars Helicopter!!! Heard before? It one of the special parts of the Mars 2020 mission. It’s called Ingenuity which is a demonstration to test powered flight on another world for the first time.

Mars Helicopter - credit: NASA

It is hitching a ride on the Perseverance rover. A progression of flight tests will be performed over a 30-Martian-day trial window that will start at some point in the spring of 2021. For the absolute first flight, the helicopter will remove a couple of feet starting from the earliest stage, noticeable all around for around 20 to 30 seconds, and land. That will be a significant achievement: the absolute originally fueled trip in the very slender environment of Mars! From that point forward, the group will endeavor extra test trips of steadily farther separation and more noteworthy height. After the helicopter finishes its innovation showing, Perseverance will proceed with its scientific mission.

TECH SPECS

• Mass - 1.8 kilograms
• Weight - 4 pounds on Earth; 1.5 pounds on Mars
• Width - Total length of rotors: ~4 feet (~1.2 meters) tip to tip
• Power - Solar panel charges Lithium-ion batteries, providing enough energy for one 90-second flight per Martian day (~350 Watts of average power during flight)
• Blade span - Just under 4 feet (1.2 meters)
• Flight range - Up to 980 feet (300 meters)
• Flight altitude - Up to 15 feet (5 meters)
• Flight environment - Thin atmosphere, less than 1% as dense as Earth’s

How it’s deployed?

Ingenuity will hitch a ride on the Perseverance rover’s belly, secured by a shield to ensure it during the plunge and landing. Once at a reasonable spot on Mars, the shield covering underneath the rover will drop. At that point, the group will discharge the helicopter in a few stages to get it securely onto the surface. Just look for Mars Perseverance Rover up there. Explore it!