6 things to know about the helicopter heading to Mars 1:38
(CNN) -
The Ingenuity helicopter, assistant and traveling companion to NASA's Perseverance rover, reported a good report and is "working as expected," according to the agency.
If successful, Ingenuity will be the first helicopter to fly over another planet, leading to a "Wright Brothers extraterrestrial moment," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.
The rover landed safely on the surface of Mars on Thursday after its launch from Earth on July 30.
Perseverance has already submitted an impressive set of images to show that you are safe and ready to go through a 'verification' phase before beginning your journey across the surface.
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Members of NASA mission control celebrate after receiving confirmation that the Perseverance rover successfully landed on Mars on Thursday, February 18.
Bill Ingalls / NASA
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Perseverance posted this image shortly after landing on Mars.
The rover will explore Jezero crater, an ancient lake that existed 3.9 billion years ago, and will search for microfossils in rocks and soil.
JPL-Caltech / NASA
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The Empire State Building in New York glows red on Tuesday, February 16, to mark Perseverance's landing on the red planet.
Emma Howells / NASA
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US President Joe Biden watches coverage of the rover landing from the White House.
"Congratulations to NASA and to all those whose hard work made the historic Perseverance landing possible," he said in a tweet.
"Today it was demonstrated once again that with the power of American science and ingenuity, nothing is beyond the realm of possibility."
Photo: White House
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A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, carried by the Perseverance rover, is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in July 2020. Joel Kowsky / NASA
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Engineers conducted tests on the rover inside the Kennedy Space Center in April 2020. The rover was rotated clockwise and counterclockwise on a turntable to determine its center of gravity.
Establishing the rover's center of gravity helped ensure that the spacecraft would land on Mars as calculated.
Christian Mangano / JPL-Caltech / NASA
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This piece of hardware, designed at NASA's Johnson Space Center, will take the first space suit materials to Mars to see how they hold up.
It will also bring a piece of a Martian meteorite to the planet's surface so that scientists can observe how it changes over time.
Robert Markowitz / NASA
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NASA employees install the in situ Mars Oxygen Resource Utilization Experiment, also known as MOXIE, on the chassis of the Perseverance rover in March 2019. This experiment will attempt to convert Martian carbon dioxide into oxygen.
This could help NASA scientists learn how to produce not only rocket fuel on Mars, but also oxygen that could be used during future human exploration of the red planet.
Lannom / JPL-Caltech / NASA
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: NASA's Perseverance rover successfully reached Mars
Now, the mission team has heard directly from the helicopter for the first time, and this is good news.
Ingenuity is currently tucked under the rover and attached to Perseverance's belly.
The rover is roughly the size of a pickup truck, while the helicopter only weighs around 2 kilos.
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The helicopter was able to call home through the rover by sending data through NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which acts as a communications transmitter between Mars and Earth and has been orbiting the red planet since 2006.
Ingenuity is comfortable where he is and is not going to drop the rover anytime soon for a test flight.
The helicopter will remain comfortable with the rover for 30 to 60 days.
“Ingenuity, the helicopter from Mars that I have, works as expected.
I'm currently charging it, but once I drop it, it will depend solely on its solar panels.
If it survives the brutally cold Martian nights, the team will try to fly, ”reads a tweet on Perseverance's Twitter account.
Ingenuity, the Mars Helicopter I carry, is working as expected.
I'm currently charging it, but once I set it down, it'll rely solely on its solar panels.
If it survives the brutally cold Martian nights, the team will attempt flight.
https://t.co/8pksN06ZwP #CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/80kEoww0QU
- NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 20, 2021
“There are two important elements that we are looking for in the data: the state of charge of the Ingenuity batteries, as well as confirmation that the base station is working as designed, instructing the heaters to turn off and on to maintain the electronics helicopter within an expected range, "said Tim Canham, Ingenuity helicopter operations lead on Mars at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in a statement.
“Both seem to be working very well.
With this positive report, we will move forward with (Saturday) charging the helicopter batteries.
Ingenuity needs to power and store energy so it can stay warm and maintain other vital functions during cold Martian nights once the rover deposits the helicopter on the surface of the red planet.
Then Ingenuity will be on its own.
And it will have to endure nights when temperatures can drop to -95 degrees Celsius.
As Elton John sings in "Rocket Man," Mars is, in fact, cold as hell.
Maintaining battery function and health will be critical to helping the helicopter survive the frigid Martian weather before attempting any further test flights.
A total of five test flights are planned over a 31-day period once the rover finds the correct "helipad", or a good flat spot, to deposit Ingenuity.
LOOK
: The Ingenuity helicopter will try to fly over Mars
As long as Ingenuity is attached to Perseverance, the helicopter can give its batteries a boost.
The helicopter has six lithium-ion batteries.
Once detached from the rover, the helicopter's solar panel will charge those batteries.
Ingenuity's first flight will be short, only about 20 seconds of flight suspended from the ground.
But it will be a historic moment.
Like the first Martian rover, Sojourner, Ingenuity is a demonstration of technology, an experiment.
Showing that this concept can work could lead to the development of helicopters that could act as scouts for both rovers and human missions to Mars in the future.
If that first flight is successful, "more than 90% of the project goals will have been achieved," according to NASA.
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Subsequent flights could last longer and test more capabilities of the helicopter.
It carries two cameras that can provide aerial images.
Perseverance will also train its cameras at Ingenuity to capture the sights and sounds, including video, of these historic flights.
"We are in unfamiliar territory, but this team is used to that," MiMi Aung, project manager for the Ingenuity Helicopter on Mars at JPL, said in a statement.
“Almost every milestone from here to the end of our flight demonstration program will be a first, and each must be successful for us to move on to the next.
We will enjoy this good news for now, but then we have to get back to work. "
NASArover Perseverance