NASA will be attempting to fly its first helicopter on another planet. This will happen when NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida this year.
Photo from NASA
Aboard the mission will be the innovative experiment called the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. NASA said, “Ingenuity may weigh only about 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms), but it has some outsize ambitions.”
On the NASA website, they also enumerated 6 things to know about NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. The list includes interesting facts like how Ingenuity will be the first aircraft to attempt a controlled flight on another planet.
Get to know @NASA's Mars helicopter:
🚁 1st attempt at controlled flight on another world
👩🏽🎓 Named Ingenuity by a student
🤯 May enable future Mars explorationMore about the tech demonstration set to launch w/ @NASAPersevere on 7/30: https://t.co/4GfWF2Czmo#CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/d1Usm2Ycod
— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) July 14, 2020
Another interesting fact about the Ingenuity Helicopter is that it was named by a high school student from Alabama. According to NASA, “Vaneeza Rupani, a junior at Tuscaloosa County High School in Northport, Alabama, came up with the name and the motivation behind it during NASA’s “Name the Rover” essay contest.”
NASA also posted a video about the innovative aircraft. You can watch the video below:
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