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SPACE TECHNOLOGY

NASA Ingenuity Mars helicopter

prepares for first flight

ASA is targeting no earlier than April 8 for the Ingenuity helicopter and rover teams confirm that Perseverance is situated
Mars helicopter to make the first attempt at the powered, exactly where they want it to be inside the airfield, the elaborate
Ncontrolled flight of an aircraft on another planet. Before the process to deploy the helicopter on the surface of Mars begins.
1,8 kilogram rotorcraft can attempt its first flight, however, both it As with everything with the helicopter, this type of deployment
and its team must meet a series of daunting milestones. has never been done before. Once Nasa start the deployment
Ingenuity remains attached to the belly of NASA’s there is no turning back. All activities are closely coordinated,
Perseverance rover, which touched down on Mars on 18 irreversible, and dependent on each other. If there is even a hint
February 2021. On 21 March the rover deployed the guitar case- that something isn’t going as expected, NASA may decide to hold
shaped graphite composite debris shield that protected Ingenuity off for a sol or more until we have a better idea what is going on.”
during landing. The rover currently is in transit to the “airfield” The helicopter deployment process will take about six sols (six
where Ingenuity will attempt to fly. Once deployed, Ingenuity will days, four hours on Earth). On the first sol, the team on Earth will
have 30 Martian days, or sols, (31 Earth days) to conduct its test activate a bolt-breaking device, releasing a locking mechanism
flight campaign. that helps hold the helicopter firmly against the rover’s belly during
“When NASA’s Sojourner rover landed on Mars in 1997, it launch and Mars landing. The following sol, they will fire a cable-
proved that roving the red planet was possible and completely cutting pyrotechnic device, enabling the mechanised arm that
redefined our approach to how we explore Mars. Similarly, we want holds Ingenuity to begin rotating the helicopter out of its horizontal
to learn about the potential Ingenuity has for the future of science position. This is also when the rotorcraft will extend two of its four
research,” said Lori Glaze, director of the Planetary Science landing legs.
Division at NASA headquarters. “Aptly named, Ingenuity is a During the third sol of the deployment sequence, a small
technology demonstration that aims to be the first powered flight on electric motor will finish rotating Ingenuity until it latches, bringing
another world and, if successful, could further expand our horizons the helicopter completely vertical. During the fourth sol, the final
and broaden the scope of what is possible with Mars exploration.”
Flying in a controlled manner on Mars is far more difficult
than flying on Earth. The red planet has significant gravity (about
one-third that of Earth’s) but its atmosphere is just 1% as dense as
Earth’s at the surface. During Martian daytime, the planet’s surface
receives only about half the amount of solar energy that reaches
Earth during its daytime, and night time temperatures can drop
as low as minus 90 degrees Celsius, which can freeze and crack
unprotected electrical components.
To fit within the available accommodations provided by the
Perseverance rover, the Ingenuity helicopter must be small. To
fly in the Mars environment, it must be lightweight. To survive
the frigid Martian nights, it must have enough energy to power
internal heaters. The system – from the performance of its rotors
in rarified air to its solar panels, electrical heaters, and other
components – has been tested and re-tested in the vacuum
chambers and test labs of NASA’s jet propulsion laboratory (JPL) Before Ingenuity takes its first flight on Mars, it must be squarely
in the middle of its airfield (10 x 10 metres), a patch of Martian real
in Southern California. estate chosen for its flatness and lack of obstructions.
“Every step we have taken since this journey began six years
ago has been unchartered territory in the history of aircraft,” said
Bob Balaram, Mars helicopter chief engineer at JPL. “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.”

Deploying the helicopter
Before Ingenuity takes its first flight on Mars, it must be squarely
in the middle of its airfield (10 x 10 metre), a patch of Martian real
estate chosen for its flatness and lack of obstructions. Once the

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