France Press agencyPosted on Thursday April 22, 2021 at 6:49 PM.
NASA’s Ingenuity mini helicopter managed a risky second flight to Mars on Thursday, after making history on Monday to become the first robotic spacecraft to travel to another planet, the US space agency said.
And NASA said in a press release that this flight, which lasted 51.9 seconds compared to 39.1 seconds on Monday, was associated with “several new challenges” compared to the first, “in particular the highest position, longer duration, and sideways movements.”
The dexterity took off at 5:33 am (9:33 am GMT), rose to a height of five meters, while it stopped at three meters on the previous flight and made a sideways movement for the first time, realizing two NASA ambitions.
“It sounds simple, but there are a lot of unknowns about how to fly a helicopter on Mars. That’s what we are here for, to find answers to these questions,” said Harvard Grib, one of its distant pilots.
Bob Ballaram, chief engineer for the project, said the data received indicated that this second flight “was up to expectations”.
He added, “We have two trips to Mars under our belt, which means there is still a lot to learn this month with creativity.”
More flights are planned, but the “age of creativity” will be “determined by the way it lands,” each time, explained MiMi Aung, head of the helicopter project, claiming that he wants to “push our vehicle. To its limits.”
The experience of creativity will stop everything that happens after a month, to allow the Perseverance craft, which arrived on board to Mars, to dedicate itself to its main mission: to search for traces of ancient life on this planet. red.
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