The Mars helicopter “Creativity” has successfully completed its mission for the tenth time. According to the US space agency NASA, this was the “most complicated” trip on the surface of Mars.
The small helicopter, barely larger than a human hand, rose to a height of twelve meters – the first. During the flight, Creativity changed direction four times and took ten color photos. In general, the flight took less than three minutes. It was done on July 24th.
With such flights, the helicopter is supposed to explore the terrain, among other things – so that the “perseverant” Mars rover can go on an expedition and explore the surrounding area. The eleventh flight could begin this week.
Creativity (German: “Ingenuity”) landed aboard the ship Perseverance on Mars at the end of February. He began his first flight in April. This made the helicopter the first to fly on another planet.
Originally, the Mars helicopter mission was supposed to take about 30 days. But in May, NASA announced: The task has been extended.
On Mars, the small plane must withstand extreme conditions: at night, temperatures drop to minus 90 degrees, which is a challenge for batteries and electronics. Because of the thin atmosphere, the “creativity” vanes must accelerate to 2,537 revolutions per minute – double what helicopters can achieve on Earth. It derives power for this voltage from its solar battery.
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