While we all do our part to conquer the bed cover of COVID-19 , we can still get excited about forthcoming commission to space . One of the most peculiar this summer will see NASA found a helicopter to Mars aboard thePerseverance rover .
Do n’t go image a human - sized eggbeater , however . The drone - copter has a wingspan of 1.2 meters ( 4 feet ) and is gestate to perform five flights during the 30 - day mission . Although the whirlybird will wait on Perseverance in discover interesting targets , its primary mission is to simply show that the engineering is executable . This will be the first ponderous - than - air guile fly on another earth .
In anew interview , the helicopter ’s chief engineer , Bob Balaram , draw how the project perish from being an outre idea to a realness , as well as the challenge the missionary post team has faced so far and what it is yet to come .
" Bob is the inventor of our Mars Helicopter . He innovated the figure and followed up on that imaginativeness to its realization as primary technologist through all phase of design , development and test , " said project director Mimi Aung in astatement . " Whenever we encountered a proficient roadblock – and we encounter many barricade – we always turn to Bob , who always carries an unlimited Seth of potential solutions to be weigh . Come to reckon of it , I do n’t think I have ever seen Bob feeling stuck at any point ! "
The chopper is equipped with solar panels to load its lithium - ion battery and a heater to keep it lovesome during the frigid Martian nights . It will fly autonomously in conditions not experienced by any other fly fomite on Earth . Mars ' atmosphere is only 1 percent of our own , which is like being 30,000 time ( 100,000 feet ) above the primer on Earth .
The commission will launch from Cape Canaveral in July and is expected to achieve the Red Planet next February , landing in the Jezero Crater . However , its initiative flying on Mars wo n’t materialize like a shot . A 2.5 - month prepping period is on the cards before this helicopter soars above the Martian surface .
