![]() ![]() If all the tests and checks are green, then on April 8 at the earliest Ingenuity will attempt to lift off, going up to 3 meters and staying for 30 seconds. The atmosphere of Mars is only a tiny fraction of that on Earth, making flight considerably more difficult in many ways. The next couple days will involve tests of Ingenuity’s systems and a test spin-up of its rotors to 2,537 RPM. Once the helicopter detaches, it has 30 Martian days, or sols, in which it is sure to have enough power to work - beyond that they can’t be sure. Once we cut the cord with Perseverance and drop those final five inches to the surface, we want to have our big friend drive away as quickly as possible so we can get the Sun’s rays on our solar panel and begin recharging our batteries.” “And while getting deployed to the surface will be a big challenge, surviving that first night on Mars alone, without the rover protecting it and keeping it powered, will be an even bigger one. “Every step we have taken since this journey began six years ago has been uncharted territory in the history of aircraft,” said Bob Balaram, chief engineer of the project at JPL, in a NASA news release. Perseverance will then set it down and quickly drive away. Once Ingenuity has been detached from Perseverance and rotated to flight-ready position, it will hang just five inches above the surface and use its few remaining connections with the rover to charge its batteries. These are meant to keep it secure during the chaotic landing process, and are irreversible - so the team has to be 100 percent sure this is the spot and the conditions are right. Then the helicopter itself must be detached from the belly of the rover, to which it is apparently locked, bolted, and cabled. Perseverance lands safely on Mars and sends back its first images of the surface ![]()
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