The article by Gohd (2021), 'Mars helicopter Ingenuity: First aircraft to fly on Red Planet.', introduces features and functions of helicopter Ingenuity that took off successfully on April 19—hovering briefly up to 10 feet above the Martian surface, it lasted for 40 seconds before landing back down.
Tucked in NASA’s Perseverance Rover’s belly, NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity is the first aircraft to be launched to the Red Planet on February 18, 2021, as part of the agency’s Mars 2020 mission. Preparing for its flight, Ingenuity underwent multiple tests, including warming up its rotor blades. An issue surfaced during its first full-speed blade test, causing a delay from its initial planned flight. On April 22, Ingenuity took off again, higher and longer this time, with the height of 16.5 feet and lasting 52 seconds. The craft was able to lift off and turn its color camera in multiple directions during its flight. Despite its tiny build, the Ingenuity has large blades that stretch to 4 feet across its body while standing about 19 inches tall. Ingenuity has blades with 2,500 revolutions per minute, while helicopters on earth that carry human passengers have an average of 450 revolutions per minute. Due to the distance between Mars and Earth, the mission team members cannot control Ingenuity in real-time. Therefore, a function was designed for Ingenuity to move in directions beamed out to mars autonomously.
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