Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

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

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

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (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
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2