Mars flight by helicopter “Ingenuity”: New launch attempt planned

Washington. The small helicopter “Ingenuity” is scheduled to take off on Mars’ first flight on Monday. The launch site, which has already been postponed several times, is scheduled for CEST at 9.30am, with data available on Earth from 12.15pm, according to NASA. This will be the first flight of an aircraft on another planet. However, it also said the launch could be postponed on short notice.

The mini helicopter had “ingenious” technical problems

The first flight of the small helicopter, which landed on Mars on a rover called “Perseverance” in February, was originally scheduled for April 11, but was later postponed to April 14, and was later grounded again due to technical problems. The 1.8-kilogram “ingenuity” (German: முதல் முதல்)’s first test aircraft would rise to an altitude of about three meters, stay there for 30 seconds and then land on the surface of Mars again.

The helicopter must withstand extreme conditions: Mars will be cold at night up to minus 90 degrees, the planet’s gravitational pull will be low and the atmosphere will be very thin. The mini-helicopter landed in the belly of “perseverance” (roughly: endurance in German) at the end of February – after 203 days of flight and 472 million kilometers of travel – with the dangerous maneuver on dry Mars Lake “Jessero Gorge”. Over the next two years, “diligence” is to investigate this lake, which is about 45 kilometers in diameter.