It won't be this Sunday.
NASA has delayed the first flight of its Ingenuity mini-helicopter to Mars by several days due to a technical problem that arose during the test of its rotors.
The Ingenuity trip, set to be the very first flight of a motorized craft to another planet, is now on hold until at least April 14, the U.S. space agency said on Saturday.
NEWS: We're now targeting no earlier than Wednesday, April 14, for our Ingenuity # MarsHelicopter's attempt at the first powered, controlled flight on another planet.
Details: https://t.co/LaoY7zyijY pic.twitter.com/TIwlZ3foD1
- NASA (@NASA) April 10, 2021
A high-speed test of the 1.8-kilogram helicopter's rotors ended earlier than expected due to an alert of a potential problem.
By their rotation, these elements keep the helicopter in flight.
"The helicopter team is examining the telemetry to diagnose and understand the problem," NASA said in a statement.
"Following this, they will reprogram the test at full speed."
Despite this last-minute problem, Ingenuity is "safe and sound" and it communicates with Earth via the Perseverance rover, which touched down on Mars on February 18 with the helicopter strapped to its underside.
Get to know Mars better
The new operation which will be carried out in a few days consists in making Ingenuity fly in hover for 30 seconds.
This is a challenge because the Martian air is of a density equivalent to only 1% of that of the Earth's atmosphere.
However, it is by pushing the air that the propellers can lift weight.
Ingenuity must therefore turn the blades of its rotor much faster than a helicopter would on Earth to be able to fly to lift its own weight: 1.8 kg on Earth, which corresponds to 700 g on the red planet.
After the flight, the helicopter will transmit technical data to the rover, including a photo of the ground, in black and white.
The next day, once its batteries are recharged thanks to its autonomous solar panel, the helicopter will transmit a color photo of the horizon, taken by its other camera.
If all goes well, the most spectacular and eagerly awaited images will come from the robot which must film the flight several meters away.
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If the mission is successful, it will be followed by a second flight four days later.
Five flights are planned, with increasing difficulty.
NASA would like to be able to raise the helicopter to a height of 5 m, then try to make it move sideways.
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In a month at most, or more if flights are delayed, the Ingenuity experiment will stop, leaving the Perseverance rover to focus on its main task: searching for traces of ancient life on Mars.
