NASA's Mars Helicopter Flies For The First Time On The Red Planet

 

Daily Mail: 'Perseverance got us to Mars. With Ingenuity, we soar higher': NASA's Mars helicopter FLIES on the Red Planet in first powered flight on another planet 

* NASA's Ingenuity helicopter's first flight on the Red Planet took off at exactly 08:34 BST on Monday 

* The 4lb rotorcraft fired its blades to 2,500rpm, flew up 10ft, hovered to take a photo then landed 

 * It was originally due to fly on April 11 but issues with flight control software led to the short delay 

* Engineers changed the control system software and sent it to Mars to be uploaded to the flying craft 

 * NASA will send the helicopter back up again within the next few days and will likely fly it higher than 10ft 

* The space agency said they hoped to have a series of progressively more daring flight tests over the month 

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter has become the first craft to complete a powered flight on another world, according to NASA, after waiting three hours for the data to travel the 180 million miles from the Red Planet. 

Taking off at exactly 08:34 BST, it climbed up to 10ft in the air, maintained a stable hover for 30 seconds before descending and touching back down on the surface of Mars.

It spent 39.1 seconds in flight, NASA said. 

Flying on Mars is particularly challenging due to the fact its atmosphere is just 1% of Earth's at ground level, and while the lower gravity, a third of that on Earth, helps, it is only a partial offset against the thinner atmosphere.  

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: It was in the air for only 39 seconds and at a height of about 10 feet. But history was made today.