NASA has made history by achieving the first powered, controlled flight on another planet, courtesy of their Ingenuity helicopter.
Delivered to the planet's surface on February 18 by the Perseverance Rover spacecraft, the $85 million helicopter took the skies this morning after the original flight date of April 11 was postponed as engineers worked on pre-flight checks. Engineers also addressed a command sequence issue.
Cheers rang out at the agency as Ingenuity, standing at 50 centimetres tall and weighing 1.8 kilograms on Earth, (0.68 Kilograms on Mars because of the red planet's lower gravity), powered into the redden Martian skies.
MORE NEWS:
- Five marathons in five days for Pontypool mum with cancer
- House in Chepstow abandoned for 12 years is up for sale
- Look who’s been in court from Newport, Pontypool and Bargoed
After an anxious wait on Earth to see how Ingenuity fared, NASA received an image from Mars from the helicopter in flight and a video from the Perseverance Rover showing the helicopter hovering above the Martian surface.
"How incredible," said Taryn Bailey, a mechanical engineer working for NASA. The anticipation before the flight at NASA was tense with Mr Bailey adding: "Everyone is really feeling it now. It's amazing, brilliant, everyone here is super excited."
Ingenuity's short but successful flight is expected to herald major changes in how scientists can explore space, allowing aerial vehicles to go into areas that the land-based spacecraft Rovers cannot.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here