“NASA” will soon make its first attempt to fly a helicopter in the atmosphere of Mars

The American space agency “NASA” announced that it was organizing the first operation of a motor vehicle on a planet other than Earth in early April, while an attempt will be made to take off the small “Ingenuity” helicopter in the atmosphere of Mars.
According to Agence France-Presse, the “Ingenuity”, which is very light and looks like a large drone, is still folded and installed under the “Perseverance” mobile robot which landed on the surface of the Red Planet last month.
“The best estimate available at the moment (for the first flight) is April 8,” Ingenuity chief engineer Bob Palram told a press conference, but said a change could arise regarding the scheduled date.
If the test is successful, it will be a great success, because the density of the Martian atmosphere does not exceed 1% of the density of the Earth’s atmosphere.
This Martian event will be as significant as the achievement represented by the first engine flight on the planet in 1903. NASA reported that a small piece of fabric from the Wright brothers’ plane that took off more than a year ago century in North Carolina, was placed on the “Ingenuity”, in A tribute to the first ground flight, and therefore it is currently on Mars.
This first exit is expected to be very straightforward, as the helicopter will take off vertically, then rise to a height of three meters and hover at that level for 30 seconds before landing again.
The helicopter will receive its instructions from Earth a few hours before, but it will analyze its position relative to the surface of Mars on its exit by taking 30 photos per second.
And NASA has already determined the area the helicopter will fly over and is north of the mobile robot’s landing site.
Farah Ali Bey, who is in charge of coordinating the robot and helicopter teams, said Perseverance would have to get to this track on wheels, “which takes a few days.”
The robot will place the helicopter in the appropriate place for take-off, then pass it overhead to move away. Perseverance must travel in less than 25 hours at a distance sufficient to make room for the sunlight necessary for the helicopter to generate its energy by solar panels, so that it can warm itself during the cold nights of Mars.
The mobile robot will then be parked at a checkpoint that will allow it to take pictures with its camera of the “Ingenuity” flight.
NASA plans to conduct up to five sorties over a month, and they are classified as struggling.
The helicopter is 1.2 meters long and its propellers operate at 2400 rpm.
The helicopter program cost NASA approximately $ 85 million.
In the future, such vehicles could play a very important role in the exploration of the planet thanks to their ability to reach places that roving robots could not reach (above canyons, for example).