Ingenuity, NASA's 'little 'copter that could' (and did!)

In 2020,

classified Ingenuity as a tech demo: a low-budget, high-risk, side experiment, incorporating off-the-shelf parts to save money. But project manager Teddy Tzanetos said the idea of a stowaway technology demo, stored under the Rover, was not universally, enthusiastically embraced. 'No, it was not! There were definitely people against it, not just concerned, but wholeheartedly against it and trying to prevent it from happening,' he said.

celebrates as Perseverance rover lands on MarsThe distance between Mars and Earth means it takes up to 20 minutes for a signal to reach the helicopter. So, every instruction would have to be transmitted in advance. 'We'll uplink a flight on Monday and, if we're lucky, we'll get the data on Tuesday, sometimes it's longer,' said chief engineer Travis Brown.So, no one may know whether it was a smoking heap of wreckage on Mars until days later.

promoted it to be the rover's eye-in-the-sky, scouting ahead to help the rover choose its routes and destinations.So, Ingenuity kept flying, kept beating its own records for distance, speed, altitude and duration. And not just for 30 days … for a hundred. Two hundred. Four hundred. Through the long Mars spring, summer and fall. Mars Ingenuity helicopter breaks record for speed and altitude,

's thinking forever. 'We've been working on the next generation of helicopters for Mars – larger, more capable helicopters, go to areas like a cliff wall, fly down a lava tube, go to the poles, go to the equator, you name it,' Tzanetos said.

Drone Mars NASA

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