Creative helicopter prepares for its first flight on the surface of Mars for Monday – Science – Life

If the event is not postponed again, Monday, April 19 will become a historic day: For the first time the creativity helicopter flies on Mars. We inform you of the scheduled departure time.

Creativity is expected to rise 10 feet above the surface of Mars, float for 30 seconds, take a black and white photo, and then land. However, with technology that has not been previously tested on another planet and faces complex flight conditions, it will be difficult to successfully carry out this mission.

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The air on Mars, with less than 1% of the pressure of Earth’s atmosphere, is extremely thin. This means that Creativity must spin its propellers much faster than a helicopter on Earth would need to fly.

Creativity will take off tomorrow at 3:30 a.m. EDT (2:30 a.m., Columbia time), but its activity data will take three hours to hit Earth.

So, NASA sets a live broadcast at 6:15 a.m. EDT (5:15 a.m. PDT) To see the results of the first flight attempt. This can be seen through various platforms, including Youtube.

(Also read: NASA selects SpaceX for its next lunar mission)

The following photo, taken by the Perseverance rover, shows an Ingenuity helicopter after it successfully completed its high-speed cornering test.

(IF YOU READ US FROM EL TIEMPO APP, See the picture here)

Ingenuity’s maiden flight was originally scheduled for April 12, but NASA announced the day before that it would be delayed. The decision was made after a possible technical issue appeared during the rotor tests.

(We recommend: Amazing photos of blue dunes on Mars published by NASA)

However, once the issues are resolved, the ingenuity will take off tomorrow morning.

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* With information from Agence France-Presse