During NASA’s personal protection of the occasion livestreamed from JPL headquarters, NASA additionally displayed the primary photos from the flight.
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NASA’s miniature robotic helicopter Ingenuity carried out a successful takeoff and touchdown on Mars early on Monday, reaching the primary powered, managed flight by an plane over the floor of one other planet, the U.S. area company mentioned.
The solar-powered whirligig’s debut on the Red Planet marked a Twenty first-century Wright Brothers second for NASA, which mentioned success may pave the way in which for brand spanking new modes of exploration on Marsand different locations within the photo voltaic system, reminiscent of Venus and Saturn’s moon Titan.
Mission managers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) close to Los Angeles burst into applause and cheers as engineering knowledge beamed again from Mars confirmed that the 4-pound (1.8-kg) twin-rotor helicopter had carried out its maiden 40-second flight as deliberate about three hours earlier.
The robotic rotorcraft was programmed to ascend 10 ft (3 meters) straight up, then hover and rotate in place over the Martian floor for half a minute earlier than settling again down on its 4 legs. JPL officers mentioned knowledge returned from Mars confirmed that this had in reality occurred.
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During NASA’s personal protection of the occasion livestreamed from JPL headquarters, NASA additionally displayed the primary photos from the flight.
A black-and-white photograph taken by a downward-pointing onboard digital camera whereas the helicopter was aloft confirmed the distinct shadow solid by Ingenuity within the Martian daylight onto the bottom just under it.
A snippet of coloration video footage captured by a separate digital camera mounted on the NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance, parked about 200 ft away, confirmed the helicopter in flight in opposition to the orange-colored panorama surrounding it.
“We can now say that human beings have flown an aircraft on another planet,” mentioned MiMi Aung, Ingenuity mission supervisor at JPL.
