Ingenuity flew.It's the first time on another planet

The historic flight allowed little Ingenuity to soar in the Martian atmosphere.It is the first step for aerial exploration of the red planet.

Small, without on-board instrumentation, powered by solar energy.AND for the first time it flew just over 39” at about 10 feet in the air, becoming the first human artifact to hover on another planet.That's how it is Ingenuity, the helicopter that landed on Mars last February together with the rover Perseverance, he gave the start of aerial exploration of the red planet, 117 years after the Wright brothers' first flight.

“Although these two iconic moments in aviation history may be separated by time and 280 million kilometers of space, now they will be connected forever,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the NASA for science.“In homage to Dayton's two innovative bicycle manufacturers, this first of many airports on other worlds will now be known as Wright Brothers Field.”

A flight full of unknowns

It was not at all obvious that Ingenuity would be able to fly, because there are many differences with flight conditions on Earth.First of all the density of the Martian atmosphere, extremely rarefied with only 1 percent of the surface pressure compared to our planet.This means there are relatively few air molecules for Ingenuity's two rotor blades to interact with to achieve flight.“Providing lift to propellers is extremely difficult“, explained Paolo Bellutta of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).“Having an aircraft that can lift enough electronics to have a camera is not trivial.”

Meanwhile the Perseverance rover recorded all operations from about 64 meters away, sending the images to our planet which NASA then made public during the presentation press conference.

Over the next three sols (the duration of the Martian day which corresponds to approximately 24 hours and 39 minutes on Earth), the NASA team will receive and analyze all the data and images from the test and will formulate a plan for the second experimental test flight, scheduled for April 22, when the small aircraft is expected rise 5 meters and move 2 meters.If the helicopter survives the second flight, JPL will evaluate the best way to expand the flight profile.

What you need to know about Ingenuity

The small aircraft it is equipped with a rotor with two blades more than one meter wide each and capable of reaching a speed of 3000 revolutions per minute, approximately 10 times that of a land helicopter. Its limited weight, just 1.8 kilograms and with dimensions of just 80 centimetres, allowed the helicopter to lift off the Martian soil.Equipped with carbon fiber blades, it has four blades arranged in two counter-rotating rotors 1.2 meters long.To further reduce weight, the drone does not contain scientific instruments, but components that we find in our smartphones, tested for the first time in deep space.

It is therefore a small big step for what will be the future exploration of the red planet, during which, one day, we will be able to see astronauts accompanied by small flying objects.