"Ingenuity" ready to start flights in April

NASA's "Ingenuity" helicopter first appeared on Mars, moored at the bottom of the Rover Perseverance, before its first flight next month. The wreckage, which covered the small helicopter, was discarded by the Rover on Sunday, revealing that the helicopter had crashed and sided sideways under the vehicle.

According to NASA, the helicopter "folded and locked in place". NASA also said that the helicopter flights to Mars will not start before the first week of April. But in order for that to happen, Rover will have to leave the helicopter in a clean and safe area where it can be used as a helipad. The wreckage shield was designed to protect the four-pound helicopter during the Rover landing on Mars. As NASA points out, removing the shield before the trip reduces the amount of debris that could cause problems in the Rover landing on Mars.

It is noted that for some time before the Rover landed on Mars, NASA even monitored the weather forecast on the "red" planet to ensure flight safety. "Fortunately for "Ingenuity", the weather forecast on Mars is somewhat simpler than on Earth," NASA explained. "Intelligence" will be the first aircraft that will try to move, with a controlled flight to another planet. The exact time of the flight is not yet known as engineers are working out the details of the timetable for its development on Mars.

Meanwhile, Rover Perseverance is constantly sharing new images of the "Red" Planet, including the rocky landscape used to find a take-off spot for "Ingenuity".

In fact, once the right location for take-off is found, then Rover will develop the helicopter and provide environmental monitoring as well as support for imaging the area. It is noted that the Rover hosts the base of "Ingenuity" thus allowing communication with the leaders of the mission to Mars who are on Earth. At the same time, NASA will seek to see if "Ingenuity" can be charged by solar panels and survive the average temperatures of -90 degrees Celsius prevailing at night.

As NASA said before the development of "Ingenuity", on Mars the Rover will ensure that the helicopter has enough stored energy to be able to both heat and other functions for its first night of wandering. At the same time, the space service added that Rover will ensure that the spacecraft can maintain the optimal health of its battery, since this is essential for the success of its mission. The Rover Perseverance and the accompanying helicopter cost $ 2.2 billion and landed successfully on Mars on February 18. To accomplish this they made a journey of 230 million miles.