Martian helicopter Ingenuity unloaded to the surface of the Red Planet and prepares for the night

NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity touched the surface of the Red Planet after being dropped from the parent rover Perseverance, the space agency officials announced today. A little more than a week is left before the first flight of the helicopter.

“The installation of the Martian helicopter on the ground has been confirmed! His journey of 471 million kilometers aboard the “Perseverance” ended today with the final drop from a 10-cm height from the belly of the rover to the surface of Mars – wrote representatives of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. – Next task? Survive the night. “

The fact is that the surface temperature of the Red Planet drops to -90 ° C at night. By the way, before unloading Ingenuity to the surface of Mars, the rover charged the helicopter’s batteries to 100%. After that, the rover rode off, and from now on, the helicopter weighing about 1.8 kg can only rely on itself (including from the point of view of charging).

“Ingenuity” is equipped with a battery with a capacity of 35-40 Wh – until recently, it was connected to the rover’s nuclear system. Still, now it will have to rely only on internal systems. This battery is also used to power the heater, which is vital on cold nights.

“This heater maintains an internal temperature of about 7 ° C in the harsh cold of a Martian night when temperatures can drop to –90 ° C, ” said chief engineer of the Martian helicopter project Bob Balaram the other day. ” This helps protect key components like the battery and some sensitive electronic devices from damage at shallow temperatures.”