Perseverance Finally Sees Its Buddy: Ingenuity

It has been over a month since Perseverance landed on Mars. In that month, Perseverance has done many parts of its checkup to make sure that it is ready for day-to-day operation on Mars. Some major milestones include the first drive test on Mars and Perseverance in moving its robotic arms for the first time. But another big thing happened today. Today Perseverance dropped its debris shield for its rotorcraft, Ingenuity.

Debris Shield on Mars with Ingenuity
in Perseverance's Belly

Perseverance is NASA’s newest Mars rover. Its main goal is to find life on Mars and take samples. To take these samples, Perseverance will use its highly advanced arm to drill for samples. Perseverance will also cache these samples for a future mission to collect and bring them back to Earth. For now, Perseverance will store these samples in its sample storage system in the belly of the rover. It launched from LC41 on July 30, 2020, and landed in Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021. Jezero crater was picked as the landing site as it once was the site of an ancient river delta. To learn more about Perseverance, check out some of my previous posts where I go more in-depth on the rover.

Major Components of Ingenuity

However, Perseverance isn’t alone as it is joined by Ingenuity. Ingenuity is a 4-pound helicopter that will be the first rotorcraft ever to fly in the skies of Mars. Ingenuity is expected to make its flight shortly. On Ingenuity, there is one camera and two microphones. However, it won’t be able to fly very far and for long. Ingenuity also uses solar power to keep itself light and allows it to be operational for a few years. The propellers on Ingenuity also spin very fast because the air on Mars is 1% as thick as it is on Earth.

Ingenuity could start its first test flights in the first week of April. Ingenuity is planned to take 5 flights as a part of the mission over the course of a few months. During these missions, it will scout out for future landing sites and look for places of interest. The debris shield that Perseverance dropped was used to protect Ingenuity on landing. Ingenuity will be the first rotorcraft to ever fly on another planet and it will be a big accomplishment if Ingenuity is able to successfully fly.

Sources:

“Ingenuity (Helicopter).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Mar. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingenuity_(helicopter). 

“Mars 2020.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Mar. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_2020. 

Pradhan, Arnav. Perservering to Mars, Blogger, 25 Feb. 2021, www.arnavpradhan.com/2021/02/perservering-to-mars.html. 

Wall, Mike, director. Mars Helicopter Ingenuity Gets 1st Taste of Red Planet Air (Video). Space.com, Space, 22 Mar. 2021, www.space.com/mars-perseverance-rover-helicopter-ingenuity-unveiled?jwsource=cl. 

Wall, Mike. “Mars Helicopter Ingenuity Gets 1st Taste of Red Planet Air (Video).” Space.com, Space, 22 Mar. 2021, www.space.com/mars-perseverance-rover-helicopter-ingenuity-unveiled.