A small NASA helicopter made its first flight to Mars

It’s a historic moment: A small NASA helicopter made its maiden flight to Mars on Monday, April 19. This feat is immortalized in a video clip and photo. “The target was under the small helicopter and we see the shadow that the spacecraft cast on the Earth of Mars, evidence that it had taken off. The video was captured from the persistent rover that brought the helicopter to MarsJournalist Jean-Christophe Bateria, in the 19/20 group, notes.

Thanks to the video, we can watch the machine take off from about three meters. He managed to remain in suspension for thirty seconds. This is a real challenge because we had to solve problems that were unknown on the ground, such as the distance to place an order. In fact, as the journalist identifies, “You have to wait 15 minutes because you are 280 million kilometers away and another 15 minutes to see if the order is executedSo the motion must be programmed with the greatest accuracy. Finally, the air on Mars is less dense than on Earth. Thus, the blades of a helicopter, which rotate faster than a regular machine, have been enlarged.