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eventual flight in a few months.
Ingenuity is getting its power from Perseverance from the time
The Ingenuity helicopter has reported in from the Red Planet. being, but once the rover lets go of the helicopter, the drone will
The first helicopter ever sent to another world is doing just fine be charging fully on its own, using solar panels.
on Mars after surviving the "seven minutes of terror" landing "After Perseverance deploys Ingenuity to the surface, the
aboard NASA's Perseverance. helicopter will then have a 30-Martian-day [31-Earth-day]
The Ingenuity helicopter, which landed on Mars with experimental flight test window," JPL said in a statement. A
Perseverance, is awake and communicating with controllers on Martian day or ‘sol’ is 24 hours and 37 minutes, compared to
Earth. Earth's 24 hours, and controllers are operating on Mars time for
Controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory received a the first 90 sols of the mission.
downlink through the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, indicating the "If Ingenuity survives its first bone-chilling Martian nights -
4-lb or (two kilogramme) helicopter and its base station are both where temperatures dip as low as minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit
operating normally. [minus 90 degrees Celsius] - the team will proceed with the first
"Both appear to be working great. With this positive report, flight of an aircraft on another world," JPL added.
we will move forward with tomorrow's charge of the helicopter's "If Ingenuity succeeds in taking off and hovering during its
batteries," Tim Canham, Ingenuity Mars helicopter operations lead first flight, over 90 percent of the project's goals will have been
at JPL, said. achieved. If the rotorcraft lands successfully and remains operable,
That power-up procedure, will charge the six lithium-ion up to four more flights could be attempted, each one building on
‘rotorcraft’ batteries to roughly 30% of their planned capacity, the success of the last."
and data will be sent back to Earth to decide how to proceed with Ingenuity's flights could pioneer a new generation of soaring
future battery-charging sessions. Mars explorers working either independently, or alongside far-
For now, JPL plans to charge the batteries to 35% capacity in a future human landing missions. Flying drones on Mars could scout
few more days, and then to do weekly charging sessions to keep ahead of rovers to plan the best routes, or hover above dangerous
the helicopter warm on the cold Martian surface - and ready for its terrain to perform scientific studies, among other applications. Q

In this illustration, NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter stands on the Red Planet's surface as NASA's
Perseverance rover (partially visible on the left) rolls away. Image details credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

World Airnews |March Extra 2021
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