Ingenuity's First Successful Flight On Mars!
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On the morning of April 19, 2021, taking advantage of a very cold sunny day inside the Jezero Crater, on Mars and in front of the Perseverance rover as the only witness, the onboard software activated the rotors of the small helicopter.
Is this better? We think so... And it's not for nothing that NASA has decided to name the site of Ingenuity's historic liftoff "Wright Brothers Field".
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Costing 85 million dollars, Ingenuity is a "technological demonstrator": its main objective, therefore, is not to acquire scientific data but to demonstrate that it is possible to fly in a controlled way on another planet. In the case of Mars, although partly facilitated by low gravity, it had to overcome the challenge imposed by the ultra-rarefied atmosphere, forcing NASA designers to resort to innovative solutions, such as two large carbon fiber propellers.
More than a helicopter, Ingenuity resembles a drone. It is in fact a very small device, weighing only 1.8 kg. The structure with the electronics and batteries is enclosed in a cube-shaped fuselage of about 14 cm side, mounted on four legs each 38 cm long.
Ingenuity will be able to fly thanks to two pairs of counter-rotating blades of 120 cm in diameter that will turn 2400 times per minute, or ten times faster than those used in helicopters on Earth.
Despite the very low weight, in fact, that on Mars will also be reduced to one third due to the lower force of gravity, the problem for the rotors will be able to take hold in an atmosphere that has a density that is just one percent of that of Earth. Getting up in the air on the Red Planet is equivalent to doing it from an altitude of 30 km on Earth. No existing helicopter has ever gone that high; it is more than twice the altitude at which jets normally fly.
The helicopter is designed to provide overhead imagery with about ten times the resolution of orbital imagery. It carries tiny avionics and communications equipment, a navigation camera, a single solar panel and rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, as well as heaters to keep the electronics warm during the frigid Martian nights.
To hinder the proper functioning of the drone there will be in fact also the very cold temperatures of the Jezero crater, where at night it will drop even to -90 degrees Celsius. These temperatures could put a strain on components and electronics, although tests on Earth indicate that everything should work as expected.
The drone will recharge its batteries thanks to an integrated solar panel and the energy will serve, as well as for short flights, also to keep the vehicle warm during the freezing Martian nights. In this regard, it has been mounted a real thermostat able to monitor its state.
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Credits: Ron Miller
Credits: Mark A. Garlick / MarkGarlick.com
Credits: Nasa/Shutterstock/Storyblocks/Elon Musk/SpaceX/ESA/ESO
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