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Nasa successfully flies small helicopter on Mars | Nasa successfully flies small helicopter on Mars |
(32 minutes later) | |
Frames from a video show Ingenuity hovering above the Martian surface | Frames from a video show Ingenuity hovering above the Martian surface |
The American space agency has successfully flown a small helicopter on Mars. | The American space agency has successfully flown a small helicopter on Mars. |
The drone, called Ingenuity, was airborne for less than a minute, but Nasa is celebrating what represents the first powered, controlled flight by an aircraft on another world. | The drone, called Ingenuity, was airborne for less than a minute, but Nasa is celebrating what represents the first powered, controlled flight by an aircraft on another world. |
Confirmation came via a satellite at Mars which relayed the chopper's data back to Earth. | Confirmation came via a satellite at Mars which relayed the chopper's data back to Earth. |
The space agency is promising more adventurous flights in the day's ahead. | The space agency is promising more adventurous flights in the day's ahead. |
Moment Nasa reacts to successful Ingenuity flight | |
Ingenuity will be commanded to fly higher and further as engineers seek to test the limits of the technology. | Ingenuity will be commanded to fly higher and further as engineers seek to test the limits of the technology. |
"We can now say that human beings have flown a rotorcraft on another planet," said a delighted MiMi Aung, project manager for Ingenuity at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. | |
"We've been talking for so long about our Wright Brothers moment on Mars, and here it is." | |
This is a reference to Wilbur and Orville Wright who conducted the first powered, controlled aircraft flight here on Earth in 1903. | |
Ingenuity Mars helicopter set for historic flight | |
Nasa shows dramatic video of Mars rover's landing | |
Will Nasa's next rover discover life on Mars? | |
The chopper took this image of its own shadow on the ground | |
Ingenuity even carries a small swatch of fabric from one of the wings of Flyer 1, the aircraft that made that historic flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, more than 117 years ago. | |
The demonstration saw the Mars-copter - called Ingenuity - rise to about 3m, hover, swivel and then land. | |
Getting airborne on the Red Planet is not easy. The atmosphere is very thin, just 1% of the density here at Earth. This gives the blades on a rotor craft very little to bite into to gain lift. Ingenuity was therefore made extremely light and given the power to turn those blades extremely fast - at over 2,500 revolutions per minute. | Getting airborne on the Red Planet is not easy. The atmosphere is very thin, just 1% of the density here at Earth. This gives the blades on a rotor craft very little to bite into to gain lift. Ingenuity was therefore made extremely light and given the power to turn those blades extremely fast - at over 2,500 revolutions per minute. |
How this Nasa helicopter made history on Mars | |
Ingenuity was carried to Mars in the belly of Nasa's Perseverance Rover, which touched down on the Red Planet in February. | |
Perseverance then drove to an "airstrip" about 20m away from its landing site in Mars' Jezero Crater, lowering Ingenuity to the ground and taking a selfie of the two of them. | |
A successful maiden outing means that a further four flights will be attempted over the coming days, each one taking the helicopter further afield. | |
The hope is this initial demonstration could eventually transform how we explore some distant worlds. | The hope is this initial demonstration could eventually transform how we explore some distant worlds. |
Drones might be used to scout ahead for future rovers, and even astronauts once they eventually get to Mars. | Drones might be used to scout ahead for future rovers, and even astronauts once they eventually get to Mars. |
Nasa has already approved a helicopter mission to Titan, the big moon of Saturn. Dragonfly, as the mission is known, should arrive at Titan in the mid-2030s. | Nasa has already approved a helicopter mission to Titan, the big moon of Saturn. Dragonfly, as the mission is known, should arrive at Titan in the mid-2030s. |