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Mars exploration: "Ingenuity" helicopter makes the most difficult flight to date

2021-08-05T08:47:05.511Z


The small helicopter "Ingenuity" hovered over the surface of the planet for three minutes - at a height of up to twelve meters. Its flights serve to explore the area for the Mars rover "Perseverance".


Enlarge image

The “Ingenuity” helicopter is not particularly large: its footprint fits on one hand.

Photo: JPL-Caltech / ASU / NASA

The Mars helicopter “Ingenuity” has successfully completed a mission for the tenth time.

According to the US space agency Nasa, it was his "most complex" flight over the surface of Mars.

The mini-helicopter, the footprint of which is barely larger than a human hand, rose to a height of twelve meters - a first.

During the flight, "Ingenuity" changed direction four times and took ten color photos.

Overall, the trip lasted just under three minutes.

It was undertaken on July 24th.

With flights like this one, the helicopter is supposed to explore the terrain - so that the Mars rover "Perseverance" can go on a voyage of discovery and explore the surrounding area.

An eleventh flight could start this week.

»Ingenuity« (in German: »ingenuity«) landed on board the »Perseverance« on Mars at the end of February.

He started his first excursion in April.

This made the helicopter the first aircraft to fly on another planet.

Originally, the mission of the Mars helicopter was supposed to last around 30 days.

But in May NASA announced: The mission will be extended.

On Mars, the mini-aircraft has to withstand extreme conditions: At night, temperatures drop to minus 90 degrees Celsius, a challenge for batteries and electronics.

Because of the thin atmosphere, the “Ingenuity” rotors have to accelerate to 2537 revolutions per minute - a multiple of what helicopters can achieve on earth.

He draws the energy for this exertion from his solar battery.

vki / dpa

Source: spiegel

All tech articles on 2021-08-05

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