CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA flew a powered aircraft on Mars for a second time on Thursday demonstrating that humans can control an aircraft in the planet’s ultra thin atmosphere.
The tissue box-size Mars helicopter Ingenuity transmitted several images during its flight to its host, the Perseverance rover. Located 215 feet away, Perseverance transmitted the final commands from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory one hour before the flight.
At an exact moment, the copter’s twin rotor blades were spun up to 2,537 rpm. A final system’s check was performed as the blades cut through Mars’ ultra thin atmosphere.
Likened to the Wright Brothers first powered flight, Ingenuity took off from the Martian surface at 5:33 a.m. EDT, and stayed aloft for 51.9 seconds. The controlled flight flew up to an altitude of 16 feet and then traveled seven feet.
“The helicopter came to a stop, hovered in place, and made turns to point its camera in different directions,” Ingenuity’s chief pilot Håvard Grip said on Thursday. “Then it headed back to the center of the airfield to land.”
JPL received the first data from the rover four hours later. Images and data points were relayed from the copter to the rover, and to NASA’s JPL in California.
In honor of the the first controlled, powered flight on Earth, NASA has named Ingenuity’s air field. The small flight region located near Jezero Crater is now called Wright Brothers Field.
“While Ingenuity carries no science instruments, the little helicopter is already making its presence felt across the world,” NASA’s associate administrator for science Thomas Zurbuchen said. “Just as Ingenuity was inspired by the Wright brothers, future explorers will take off using both the data and inspiration from this mission.”
This second flight is the next in a series of five planned test flights during April. Each flight is expected to take Ingenuity higher and farther.
JPL has less than two weeks to perform Ingenuity’s next three flights as below zero temperatures weaken the craft. An official date for the copter’s third test flight will be announced in a few days.
(Charles A Atkeison reports on aerospace and technology. Follow his updates via social media @Military_Flight.)
