A helicopter on Mars? That’s Ingenuity

“We have a helicopter flying around on Mars,” says Kid Robin Read. “I didn‚t know the Perseverance Mars rover carried a helicopter.” The rover landed on Feb. 18, 2021.

Robin learned about the helicopter when members of NASA‚s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter team won the top award from the National Aeronautic Association.

The team won, “for the first powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet, thereby opening the skies of Mars and other worlds for future scientific discovery and exploration.”

The small but mighty chopper was stowed under the rover enroute to Mars. The under 4-pound bird can fly in Mars‚ atmosphere even though it has about 1% of the density of Earth‚s. Ingenuity‚s four blades on two rotors are about 4 feet wide.

Robin says, “It looks a lot like a drone.”

It flies up to 90 seconds and covers the length of three football fields. HÃ¥vard Fjær GripIts is chief pilot. “I get to ’pull the strings‚ through space to make the first extraterrestrial helicopter fly.” It takes off, flies, and lands itself as NASA directs.

Martian days are slightly longer than Earth‚s. Ingenuity flies once every few days, then recharges its lithium batteries with a solar panel. It‚s taking a winter break due to dust season and short days.

The helicopter scouts Perseverance‚s path. The rover gathers samples from an ancient seabed seeking signs of early life.

In June, NASA and the European Space Agency named a team of specialists to set rules for samples when they reach earth.

Sending Mars dirt to Earth will take about 10 years. A base/launch pad will include robotics to collect and pack Perseverance‚s samples, and a mini rocket to get them in orbit. There, they board a spacecraft to fly to Earth.

Robin wonders, “What if the copter finds a Martian?”