NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter dropped on Mars surface

The National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA)’s Perseverance rover, which is currently revolving around Mars has dropped off the mini helicopter Ingenuity.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory tweeted Saturday that,

“MarsHelicopter touchdown confirmed!”

“Its 293 million miles (471 million kilometers) journey aboard @NASAPersevere ended with the final drop of 4 inches (10 centimeters) from the rover’s belly to the surface of Mars today. Next milestone? Survive the night.”

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#MarsHelicopter touchdown confirmed! Its 293 million mile (471 million km) journey aboard @NASAPersevere ended with the final drop of 4 inches (10 cm) from the rover’s belly to the surface of Mars today. Next milestone? Survive the night. https://t.co/TNCdXWcKWE pic.twitter.com/XaBiSNebua

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) April 4, 2021

A photo that was tweeted showed that the Perseverance had dropped perfectly from the helicopter and its now “airfield” after dropping on the surface. Ingenuity had been feeding off the Perseverance’s power system but will now have to use its own battery to run a vital heater to protect its unshielded electrical components from freezing and cracking during the bitter Martian night.

Bob Balaram, Mars Helicopter Project chief engineer wrote in an update on Friday that,

“This heater keeps the interior at about 45 degrees F (7 degrees Celsius) through the bitter cold of the Martian night, where temperatures can drop to as low as -130F (-90 degrees Celsius).”

“That comfortably protects key components such as the battery and some of the sensitive electronics from harm at very cold temperatures.”

Earlier, NASA has successfully landed its Perseverance rover on the surface of Mars.

The American agency has landed the rover in a deep crater near the planet’s equator named Jezero.

“The good news is the spacecraft, I think, is in great shape,” said Matt Wallace, the mission’s deputy project manager.

According to the international news agency, the six-wheeled rover will now spend at least two years drilling into the local rocks and looking for evidence of past life.

According to sources, Jezero is thought to have held giant lake billions of years ago. There is a possibility that life may exist when there has been water.

The signal alerting controllers that Perseverance was down and safely reached 20:55 GMT.

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