NASA will soon have a helicopter on Mars

NASA’s Perseverance Explorer will land on the Red Planet on February 18, but the rover won’t be the only newly arrived robotic explorer. The wheeled robot carries the Mars Helicopter Ingenuity on its stomach, and NASA has released a handy list of things to know about this mission. Although several of the six facts seem to indicate that NASA isn’t quite sure if the ingenuity will work. In fact, it could still be considered a success at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory even if it crashes on its first flight.

Here are the six things NASA thinks you need to know about ingenuity before it hits the ground.

1. Ingenuity is an experimental flight test.
2. Mars will not allow Ingenuity to attempt the first controlled and powered flight to another planet.
3. Ingenuity relies on the Mars 2020 Perseverance mission for a safe passage to Mars and for operations on the surface of the Red Planet.
4. Ingenuity is smart for a little robot.
5. The Ingenuity team counts success one step at a time.
6. If Ingenuity is successful, future exploration of Mars could include an ambitious aerial dimension.

About half of this list seems to be about controlling expectations. NASA has done all the tests it can do on Earth, including simulating pressure and gravity on Mars to make sure the little helicopter can generate enough lift. Mars has enough atmosphere that the probes need heat shielding for their descent, but there isn’t enough for the parachutes to slow down something the size of Perseverance enough for a soft landing. Ingenuity is designed to be light with oversized rotor blades to compensate. JPL engineers can’t say for sure that this will work.

NASA also stresses that ingenuity is experimental. It mainly uses off-the-shelf hardware and relies on the Perseverance rover for communication and screening. NASA is focused on the small victories along the way for Ingenuity, from surviving the trip, to successfully deploying to the surface, to finally taking to the skies.

Since Mars is so far away, there is no way to control its flight in real time. However, NASA points out that Ingenuity has enough brains on board to make its own decisions. If all of this comes together and Ingenuity can give us an aerial view of Mars, it could change the way future missions are designed. Perseverance can complete its mission even if Ingenuity ignites on its first flight, but future missions to Mars might rely on flying drones for important functions.

Now read: