This is unbelievable! The first helicopter flight over the surface of Mars!

Today, NASA engineers and workers, together with the whole world, can celebrate another victory in the conquest of the red planet. Ingenuity made its first flight, the progress of which could be followed by everyone. This kind of Mars hype was last experienced with the Perseverance landing this February. A progress report was presented at a special conference at which mission leaders were brought together. Mimi Aung congratulated everyone on this event, accidentally tearing several papers on her desk when she learned about the successful outcome of the experiment. Ingenuity made several maneuvers. It took off, hovered in the air for a while, then descended and landed successfully. This is the device's first flight on another planet. A photo from a helicopter, in which you can clearly see its shadow on the surface of the planet, caused a wave of surprise among the audience. For Mimi Aung and her team, such an operation is no easier than launching a rocket. They do everything in their power to succeed, but despite extensive knowledge, there are always factors and variables that discoverers and explorers may not be aware of. This must be taken into account. But, for researchers, this is where the excitement of advancing in an area where this has never happened before lies. In addition, NASA reported that the flight was originally planned on April 11, but was postponed due to software problems. Despite the seeming simplicity and study of the work of helicopters on the Earth, for a similar device on Mars this is a whole chain of trials and tests before a flight. Unlocking the blades, slowly rotating at a frequency below 100 rpm, then increasing to over 2000 thousand. At the time of the first tests, the system signaled anomalies and the test was stopped. The problem arose when the helicopter was switching from pre-flight mode to take-off mode. This, according to the engineers, did not affect the technique in any way and the helicopter was completely safe. Nevertheless, this problem had to be solved by introducing new software. It was made possible to change the way the helicopter modes were loaded and to switch between them without any fear. It was decided to take off again during a Martian day, in the most favorable and calm weather. According to NASA's plan, Ingenuity would rise to a height of several meters, hang in the air for 20 seconds and begin to descend at a speed of 1 meter per second. The Perseverance rover serves as a signal repeater and must be located no more than 100 meters from the device, otherwise control will be impossible. A 0.5-megapixel camera installed below Ingenuity was supposed to take black-and-white images and send them through the rover to scientists on the ground. The rest of the photographs, already in color, received from the ground vehicle will be received later. The helicopter also has more powerful and color-transmitting cameras located horizontally. There have been no comments yet on when they will be used. The very idea of launching an aircraft on another planet caused an incredible stir at NASA, where previously nonexistent tasks were set before the engineers. The very idea and implementation of the first Martian helicopter was an incredible success for NASA, as the engineers faced many previously unknown technical challenges. According to Bob Balaramom, such an opportunity appeared only with the advent of new high-performance processors and powerful batteries. Increased rotational speed of the propellers, reduced beating of the blades, large allowable for operation, resistance to radiation and autonomy are the factors that distinguish the Martian apparatus from the Earth ones and allows it to fly on another planet.