Summary draft #2
Ghod’s article “Mars helicopter Ingenuity: First
aircraft to fly on Red Planet” (2021) announces that Ingenuity is the first
aircraft to fly on Mars. Ingenuity is designed to be a technology demonstration
to prove that powered flight is possible on Mars thin atmosphere (Gohd, 2021).
Thus, Ingenuity is designed to be light, weighing at 0.68kg on Mars, and has
long blades, measuring 1.2 meters across (Gohd, 2021). According to NASA (n.d),
Ingenuity is an experimental flight test and does not carry any science
instruments onboard. The components onboard Ingenuity are only for optimizing
flight tests conducted on Mars and to send back engineering data and imagery to
Earth (NASA, n.d). A solar panel is located at the top of Ingenuity that powers
the six lithium-ion battery system (NASA, n.d). This battery system powers
Ingenuity for flight and operates the heaters for the cold weather at night on
Mars (NASA, n.d). A black and white camera is faced downwards to calculate the position and
altitude of the aircraft in real time during flight (NASA, n.d). There is also
a color camera faced horizontally to acquire color images (NASA, n.d).
Gohd, C.(2022, May 22). Mars helicopter Ingenuity: First aircraft to fly
on Red Planet. Space. https://www.space.com/ingenuity-mars-helicopter-perseverance-rover
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Landing Press Kit (n.d). NASA. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press_kits/ingenuity/landing/mission/spacecraft/#:~:text=The%20helicopter's%20downward%2Dfacing%20black,real%20time%20during%20the%20flight.
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