NASA’s next-generation Mars rover Perseverance blasted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral on July 30, 2020, atop an Atlas 5 rocket. The new Mars expedition is part of the Mars rover mission, forming part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program that includes the rover Perseverance and the small robotic, coaxial helicopter Ingenuity. The next-generation robotic rover, which is a car-sized six-wheeled vehicle carrying several scientific instruments, arrived on the Martian surface on February 18 this year at a site of an ancient river delta. On Saturday, the Ingenuity mini helicopter was dropped after detaching from the belly of the rover. Now, NASA’s experimental Martian helicopter has survived its first night alone on the red planet’s frigid surface and the US space agency hailed the moment as a “major milestone” for the mini aircraft prepares for its flight.
After being deployed, Ingenuity had to rely on its own solar-powered battery power to run a vital heater to protect its unprotected electrical components from the freezing and cracking Martian night temperatures. Temperatures on Mars can plunge as low as -130 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 90 degrees Celsius).
According to MiMi Aung, Ingenuity project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), "This is the first time that Ingenuity has been on its own on the Martian surface." However, the team was happy to announce that they have found the right insulation, the right heaters, and enough energy in its battery to survive the cold night on the red planet.
In the coming days, the close to four-pound (1.8-kilogram) helicopter will attempt to rise 10 feet (3 meters) into the extremely thin Martian air on its first hop. It is planned to gradually rise up to five increasingly higher and longer flights over its month-long course.
JPL further said that if all goes well, Ingenuity is expected to make its first flight attempt no earlier than the evening of April 11. It will also script history to be the first experimental aircraft to attempt a controlled flight on another planet.
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