This is what the small Ingenuity helicopter should look like in flight. (drawing) – HANDOUT / NASA / JPL-CALTECH / AFP
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter made a historic short flight to Mars, the space agency said on Monday.
The journey of Ingenuity, the very first flight of a motorized device to another planet, must allow NASA to collect invaluable data on the conditions of life on Mars. Originally scheduled for April 11, the flight was delayed due to a technical problem that appeared during the test of its rotors.
NASA Ingenuity’s mini-helicopter, which looks like a large drone, arrived on Mars on February 18, attached under the Perseverance rover, before detaching from it in early April.