One of the most important aviation achievements for mankind. Today NASA confirmed that their Ingenuity Mars Helicopter completed its first test flight on the Martian air. The achievement from NASA will go down in aviation history as the helicopter becomes the first aircraft to fly on another planet. Achieving a height of 10 feet off the Martian surface and hovering for 39 seconds, this is the first test flight for the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars.
“This gives us amazing hope for all of humanity. I couldn’t be more proud,”- Thomas Zurbuchen, associate NASA administrator
The solar-powered helicopter was intended to fly on April 11th, but NASA delayed the flight to fix some software issues. The Ingenuity achieved its first flight on April 19, 3:34 a.m EDT (1:19 p.m NPT).
Image captured by Ingenuity Helicopter of its own shadow while hovering over Martian surface.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The flight of 39 seconds at the height of just 10 feet may seem underwhelming for many people but Mars is no Earth and the rules for a simple flight is different on different planets. To put in a perspective, the gravity on Mars is about a third of what we experience on Earth. The small almost 1.8Kg Ingenuity helicopter had to spin its twin-rotor blades faster than 2,500 rpm to achieve the 39 seconds flight. Normally a helicopter on earth needs around 500 rpm to fly.
NASA named the Ingenuity flight zone the Wright Brothers Field which is a nod to the inventors of the first successful motor-operated airplane.
“While these two iconic moments in aviation history may be separated by time and 173 million miles of space, they now will forever be linked. As an homage to the two innovative bicycle makers from Dayton, this first of many airfields on other worlds will now be known as Wright Brothers Field, in recognition of the ingenuity and innovation that continue to propel exploration.”- Thomas Zurbuchen
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