The US space agency announced on Friday, the helicopter that NASA has placed on Mars could make its first flight over the Red Planet within two days after a successful initial test of its rotors.
The new plan for the first-ever effort at powered, controlled flight on another planet is for the four-pound (1.8 kilograms) helicopter, named the Ingenuity, to take off from Mars’ Jezero Crater on Sunday at 10:54 pm US eastern time (0254 GMT Monday) and hover 10 feet (3 meters) above the surface for a half-minute, NASA said.
“The helicopter is good, it’s looking healthy,” said Tim Canham, Ingenuity operations head, in a press conference.
“Last night, we did our 50 RPM spin, where we spun the blades very slowly and carefully,” he said.
The helicopter is planned for Sunday is to have it rise, flying only vertically, hover and rotate for 30 seconds to take a picture of the Perseverance rover, which touched down on Mars on February 18 with the helicopter connected to its underside.
Later the Ingenuity will be lowered back down onto the surface.
The flight will be independent, pre-programmed into the aircraft because of the 15 minutes it takes for signals to travel from Earth to Mars, and also due to the particular environment of the distant planet.
“Mars is hard not only when you land, but when you try to take off from it and fly around, too,” said MiMi Aung, Ingenuity project manager.
She told that the planet has significantly less gravity than Earth, but less than one per cent the pressure of Earth’s atmosphere at the surface. That makes it necessary for the Ingenuity to be able to turn its rotor blades much faster than a helicopter on Earth in order to fly.
“Put those things together, and you have a vehicle that demands every input be right,” said Aung.
NASA took the test of the rotors in a short video shot from the rover just a few meters away, showing what looks like a small drone. Aung said a second test would be conducted today, with the rotors running at high speed.
“The only uncertainty remains the actual environment of Mars,” she said, mentioning possible winds.
NASA calls the single helicopter operation highly risky but says it could collect precious data about the conditions on Mars.
NASA plans to send up to five flights, each successively more difficult, in a period of a month.
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