The ingenious helicopter could make the history of aviation on Mars.
NASA / JPL-Caltech
This story is part of Welcome to Mars, our series exploring the red planet.
NASA hopes to make “the first motorized and controlled flight to another planet” on Monday, when it will be Ingenuity helicopter it’s trying to fly over Mars. If you want to watch the important flight, here’s how you can watch it.
The small rotor plane took off to Mars under the belly of the Perseverance rover, which left it on the surface about a week ago. two cars posed for a picture together. The rover will act as a witness to Ingenuity’s efforts to get off the ground.
The flight attempt was delayed from the initial target date of April 11 to give NASA time to update the car software after a rotor rotation test it ended too early. The helicopter successfully completed a rapid rotation test, an important step that brought it closer to takeoff.
The agency will broadcast live the first Ingenuity flight on NASA TV. If all goes well, the helicopter will attempt its flight around 12:30 PT on Monday, and NASA will begin its live broadcast at 3:15 AM PT. “The data of the first flight will return to Earth a few hours after the autonomous flight,” the space agency said on Saturday.
This won’t be like watching a sporting event with live footage, but the NASA team hopes to get results back that indicate a successful hover operation. A post-flight briefing is scheduled for 11 p.m.
“The rover will provide support during flight operations, taking images, collecting environmental data and hosting the base station that allows the helicopter to communicate with mission controllers on Earth,” NASA said in a statement.
Look at this:
How NASA’s Mars helicopter could change the future …
5:20
NASA has highlighted how ingenuity is a high-risk and rewarding technological demonstration. It will be thrilling if it works, but not shocking if it doesn’t work. If the first flight goes well, then more attempts will follow. NASA has set the planned test flight period to last up to 31 days on Earth.
There is a lucky talisman along the way. Ingenuity has a small piece of the famous Wright Flyer attached to it, drawing a direct line between the realization of the history of aviation on both Earth and Mars.
Follow CNET’s 2021 Space Calendar to stay up to date with all the latest space news this year. You can even add it to your own Google Calendar.