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NASA’s Mars Rover Drops Off Ingenuity Helicopter Ahead of Historic Flight

posted by martyb on Tuesday April 06 2021, @12:30AM   Printer-friendly
from the The-Hummingbird-has-Landed dept.

Anti-aristarchus writes:

On the ground! The Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, has been dropped from Perseverance onto the Martian surface.
Article at the Verge.

NASA’s Perseverance rover, which is currently roaming around Mars, has dropped off the mini helicopter Ingenuity ahead of the four-pound aircraft’s historic first flight.

Ingenuity dropped four inches from the belly of Perseverance to the surface of Mars.

[...] Now that Ingenuity is separated from Perseverance, it will need to power and heat itself. Ingenuity will draw power from the sun using its onboard solar panels, but its heater will have the tough job of keeping the helicopter warm through the freezing cold nights on Mars, where temperatures can go as low as negative 130 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Bob Balaram, Ingenuity’s chief engineer.

I have no doubt that at some point, in the future, a Martian colonialist kid will find a really neat toy.

Just The Picture.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 06 2021, @12:34AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 06 2021, @12:34AM (#1133701)

    ... and one giant leap for dronekind.

  • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday April 06 2021, @09:48PM

    by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Tuesday April 06 2021, @09:48PM (#1134043) Homepage
    To be honest, it may not be Apollo 33 1/3rd, but after seeing the Veritasium vid on the development and testing of the little critter does actually make me feel quite excited to see it leave the nest in an environment it's never been able to be tested in. (A tether does not similate differing gravity, as it induces a torque - worse, a correcting torque.)
    --
    Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves