Creativity is the name of a small helicopter – a drone that was transported to Mars by the rover. This missile landed on the Red Planet on February 18th.
First, the drone, which was housed in a protective capsule at the bottom of the rover, was launched very slowly to the ground. Last week, the fans were tested, initially at 50 rpm, then 2.4K. Revolution every minute.
The first flight of the drone was planned for April 11, then NASA postponed the launch to April 14, then it was announced that the delay would be longer. But the Mars helicopter is back in operation. The new date is Monday, April 19. at. 12.15 Poland time, the agency will provide coverage for the Mission Control Center. The conference that summarizes the trip has been set at 20:00.
It will be the first motorized flight over a planet other than Earth, but it won’t be spectacular. The device climbs 3 meters, hovering in the air and the ground. More flights are planned in the future, and much depends on the success of the former.
NASA ensures that the helicopter is safe and in good condition. A program patch has been successfully developed to eliminate the error specified in the command sequence.
Although the drone will fly automatically, NASA engineers have to take several factors into account. Creativity cannot fly at night, because in navigation it consists in observing the Earth through cameras. Another issue is the need to coordinate this experience with research conducted by perseverance. Energy consumption and the winds of Mars are also important. The distance between Mars and Earth is a problem, too. The data will be downloaded from the device several minutes after it is landed.
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Source: PAP, Onet
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