39 seconds make history of NASA helicopters: Passing 289 million km, setting the feat of the 21st century

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter paved the way for sky exploration in the distant worlds in the Solar System.
3:46 am on April 19, 2021 (Pacific Time – PDT),

The entire NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the state of California burst out loud, clapping. After more than 10 days of delay, the Ingenuity helicopter weighing only 1.8 kg, worth $ 85 million of NASA, took off successfully on Mars. This victory is likened to NASA as the living moment of the Wright brothers (USA) who successfully made the first flight on Earth in 1903. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) tweeted immediately after Ingenuity’s success: “Perseverance has brought us to Mars. And Ingenuity takes us higher.” “. NASA’s Mission Control Room at (JPL) received a 14-minute delay in success signal because of a distance of 289 million kilometers from Mars. Photo: NASA The moment in which the Mission Control room was delighted to hear that Ingenuity had successfully flown on Mars. Photo: Reuters “Now, 118 years after the Wright brothers successfully made the first flight on our planet in the 20th century, the Ingenuity helicopter has succeeded in performing this amazing feat in the world. another – the Red Planet – in the 21st century “- NASA Deputy Science Director Thomas Zurbuchen said. At a distance of 289 million km (from Earth to Mars), the Ingenuity Mars helicopter has done a miracle, unprecedented in history: Automatically refuel from the Sun, automatically fly to a maximum prescribed height of 3 meters and maintain that altitude stable for 30 seconds, then a gentle landing on the surface of the Red Planet. The whole process took 39.1 seconds. 39.1 seconds is only two-thirds of the time of a minute. The time is extremely short but is a wonderful fruit for the efforts of thousands of minds to contribute to Mars Mission 2020 of NASA. It took NASA nearly a decade to prepare for this feat. SURVIVAL WITH SUCKS Dr. Daniel Brown, an astronomy expert at Nottingham Trent University (UK), described sending something flying to Mars as a ‘staggering feat’. The biggest challenge of the Ingenuity engineering team is the flying environment on Mars: – First money. So far, no one (human) has set foot on Mars. All scientists know is simulate that environment through data and images transmitted by NASA’s self-propelled explorer ship back to Earth. – Second, the Mars environment is known for its harshness: The difference in temperature between day and night can “kill” human machines, in particular, Ingenuity helicopters are too small, too light (this is required technical conditions for test flight). Not to mention, the Red Planet does not have a magnetic field, the gravity one third that of Earth; and the atmosphere is extremely thin, only 1% of the pressure on the surface of our planet. Basic construction of the Mars Ingenuity helicopter. Photo of Vietnameseization: Trang Ly / Trang Dinh [Đọc thêm về cấu tạo của trực thăng Ingenuity: ‘Mổ xẻ’ trực thăng 85 triệu USD đang ‘sống tốt’ trên sao Hỏa: Sáng tạo khoa học táo bạo bậc nhất của Mỹ!] This means that in order to fly, the helicopter must be super light and turn its wings extremely fast to gain lift. Therefore, the blades of Ingenuity reach 2,500 rpm. Each propeller on the Ingenuity is made of a 57-gram composite material that powers a chopper body the size of a tissue box! OPEN THE WAY TO DISCOVER THE NEW SKY To further mark the link between the Martian Ingenuity helicopter and the Wright brothers ‘maiden flight, NASA confirmed it had named the first Mars airport (where the Ingenuity helicopter took off) as’ Wright Brothers. Field ‘. “We don’t know exactly where Ingenuity will lead us, but today’s results show that the sky – at least on Mars – may not be the limit,” said NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk. . Just as the Wright Brothers’ flight ushered in human exploration of the sky on Earth, Ingenuity’s mission has sparked a new wave of exciting projects, poised to take the discovery of distant world to a new level. In 2027, NASA plans to launch Dragonfly mission his highly anticipated, in which a helicopter will fly over the sky of Saturn’s moon Titan. Other missions to explore distant atmospheres – such as Venus’s cloud survey mission – may soon emerge. THE MISSION OF INGENUITY NOT STOP HERE … The NASA team plans to have Ingenuity more test flights in the next few days, with up to five bolder flights over the next 30 days assuming each is successful. NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter captured this scene as it hovered over the Martian surface on April 19, 2021, during its first controlled, powered flight. another planet. It uses the navigation camera, which automatically tracks the ground during flight. Source: NASA / JPL-Caltech After its first flight, the Ingenuity helicopter sent the Mars Perseverance self-propelled explorer technical data on what it had done, including a single black-and-white photo from a ground-facing camera and information. that was transmitted back to Earth. The Ingenuity helicopter that was traveling to Mars, attached to the underside of Perseverance, touched down on February 18, 2021 as part of a mission to look for signs of extraterrestrial life. Refer: NASA, Popularmechanics, DM