Ingenuity

As an aviation and spaceflight enthusiast, I am especially excited about the rare missions that combine both of these endeavors. The NASA Ingenuity helicopter was one of these missions, and it was the first aircraft to conduct a powered and controlled flight on another planet. Landing on Mars in February 2021, attached to the underside of the Perseverance rover, Ingenuity was designed to demonstrate the feasibility of powered flight in the thin atmosphere of Mars by performing five flights over a period of 30 sols (Martian days). The little helicopter greatly exceeded its original goal, performing 72 flights over a period of nearly three years. Unfortunately, Ingenuity's rotor blades were damaged during landing on January 18, 2024, thus bringing to a close a remarkable and inspiring mission.

Image: Courtesy of NASA

Development of a helicopter to fly on Mars began in 2012 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). JPL worked with AeroVironment, NASA Ames, and NASA Langley research centers to design, build, and test Ingenuity. After an extensive testing campaign, which included testing in simulated Mars atmospheric and gravity conditions, Ingenuity was mounted to the underside of the Perseverance Mars rover in August 2019 and launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch vehicle on July 20, 2020. After a nearly seven month journey to Mars, the Perseverance/Ingenuity combo landed on Mars at Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021. Ingenuity was deployed from the underside of Perseverance on April 3, 2021, and it made its first flight on April 19, 2021.

The atmospheric density on Mars is only about one percent of Earth's atmospheric density, equivalent to an altitude of about 87,000 ft on Earth. In order to generate the lift required in such a thin atmosphere, Ingenuity's two counter-rotating coaxial rotors spin fast, between 2400 and 2900 rpm. Because of the travel time for radio signals between Earth and Mars (between 5 and 20 minutes depending on the planets' positions), Ingenuity cannot be controlled in real-time from Earth and must fly autonomously, based on pre-planned flight plans sent to it from Earth.

Image: Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Over the course of nearly three years, Ingenuity has paved the way for future extra-terrestrial flight, proving the feasibility of heavier-than-air powered flight on Mars, the value of aerial scouting for travel routes, planning, hazard avoidance, and science assessment, and the ability to survey large areas relatively quickly. As a tribute to the significance of the mission, a small piece of the wing cloth from the Wright brothers' 1903 Wright Flyer is attached to a cable underneath Ingenuity's solar panel, and NASA named Ingenuity's first take-off and landing site Wright Brothers Field.

To learn more about the amazing Ingenuity mission, check out NASA's official page at https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/# as well as JPL's website https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/ingenuity

Until next time, keep looking to the sky and keep dreaming.

- Matt