How Nasa’s Ingenuity Helicopter could Transform the Way we Explore Mars

 by Stanley Ross

Recently JPL, California, sent a rover to Mars named Perseverance, the mission of the Perseverance rover is to     look for evidence of past microscopic life on Mars, as well as to explore the complex geography of its landing site and to illustrate key technologies that will aid future robotic and human discovery.

This rover could transform the way we explore and study Mars because hidden inside this rover is a small helicopter called Ingenuity. This small device is able to fly autonomously over the rocky Martian terrain. 

Launched on 30th of July 2020, the rover took 7 months to fly to the rocky surface. Once safely landed, the rover took 2 months finding the perfect place for the first flight of the helicopter inside it. The small helicopter rose about 16 feet off the ground and then flew a round trip of roughly 328 feet before landing exactly where it took off.

Ingenuity has four specially made carbon-fibre blades that rotate at around 2,400 RPM, which is a lot faster than the helicopters on earth. This small but amazing device cost around £80 million to build and an extra £5 million to control during its 1 month mission.

Now we can use this technology to help manned missions to Mars in the future and now letting us utilise the air for travel. I think this is a great step forward in the marathon of discovery and this will change the way we explore other worlds.