Washington:
NASA effectively flew the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars on Monday, according to information and photos sent back to Earth.
“Altimeter data confirms that Ingenuity has performed its first flight — the first flight of a powered aircraft on another planet,” announced an engineer in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as the manage space cheered.
A brief clip sent back by the Perseverance rover showed the 4 pound chopper grounded at initially, hovering 3 meters above the Martian surface, then touching back down.
“Wow!”
The @NASAJPL group is all cheers as they obtain video information from the @NASAPersevere rover of the Ingenuity #MarsHelicopter flight: pic.twitter.com/8eH4H6jGKs
— NASA (@NASA) April 19, 2021
Ingenuity itself sent back a nonetheless black-and-white image from its downward pointing camera, displaying its personal shadow cast on the surface.
“We can now say that human beings have flown a rotorcraft on another planet!” mentioned lead engineer MiMi Aung to her group.
You would not think what I just saw.
More photos and video to come…#MarsHelicopterhttps://t.co/PLapgbHeZUpic.twitter.com/mbiOGx4tJZ
— NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) April 19, 2021
“We’ve been talking so long about our Wright brothers’ moment on Mars, and here it is,” she added.
The initially powered flight on Earth was accomplished by Orville and Wilbur Wright in 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
A piece of fabric from that plane has been tucked inside Ingenuity in honor of that feat.
()