NASA has flown an aircraft on another planet for the first time. On Monday, April 19, Ingenuity, a 1. 8-kilogram drone (无人机) helicopter, took off from the surface of Mars, flew up about three meters, then hovered for 40 seconds and took photos above with one of its two cameras. The historic moment was livestreamed on YouTube. “We can now say that human beings have flown a drone helicopter on another planet,” said MiMi Aung, the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, at a press conference. “We, together, flew at Mars, and we, together, now have our Wright brothers moment,” she added, referring to the first powered airplane flight on Earth in 1903.
The details: The flight was a significant technical challenge, thanks to Mars' s bone-chilling temperatures (nights can drop down to -130 °F / -90 ℃) and its incredibly thin atmosphere — just 1% the density of Earth' s. That meant Ingenuity had to be light, with rotor blades (螺旋桨) that were bigger and faster than would be needed to achieve liftoff on Earth (although the gravity on Mars, which is only about one-third of Earth's, worked in its favor). The flight had originally been scheduled to take place on April 11 but was delayed by software issues.
Why it's significant: Beyond being a significant milestone for Mars exploration, the flight will also pave the way for engineers to think about new ways to explore other planets. Future drone helicopters could help astronauts by scoping out locations, exploring inaccessible areas, and capturing images. Ingenuity will also help inform the design of Dragonfly, a car-size drone that NASA is planning to send to Saturn's moon Titan in 2027.
What's next: In the next few weeks, Ingenuity will conduct four more flights, each lasting up to 90 seconds. Each one is designed to further push the limits of Ingenuity's capabilities. Ingenuity is only designed to last for 30 Martian days, and is expected to stop functioning around
May 4. Its final resting place will be in the Jezero Crater as NASA moves on to the main focus of its mission: Getting the Perseverance rover (毅力号火星探测器) to study Mars for evidence of life.
