Years of meticulous work preceded the maiden flight of a 1.8-kilogram small helicopter on board. Challenges of “creativity”:
Cold: Until a few days ago, “ingenuity” was protected on Mars by the “persistent” rover. The built-in heaters prevented the onboard electronics from being destroyed at minus 90 degrees. “While exposure to Mars will be a huge challenge, surviving the first night on the surface of Mars alone without protecting the rover and operating it will be an even greater challenge,” said chief engineer Bob Ballaram. The small machine has already overcome this obstacle.
Correct Situation: Since the next person who could create “creativity” in the middle of a ten-by-ten-meter launch site was currently about 250 million kilometers away, the little helicopter had to put itself very hard. After being lowered from the rover, she began a process over several days in which “creativity” was removed from the vehicle and placed with the clutch lever on both four vehicles.
Thin Atmosphere: In good weather conditions, the NASA team wanted to grant permission to take off. The rotors should then accelerate to 2,537 revolutions per minute and take off “creativity” as scheduled on their first historic voyage. The plan: It rises three meters during the operation, stays there in the air for 30 seconds and lands again after a total of about 40 seconds. More and more audacious flights will follow.
