The Joyride Blog
30 seconds above Mars─── 16:22 Mon, 19 Apr 2021
Nasa has successfully completed the first copter flight on another planet!
According to the BBC, the American space agency has successfully flown a small helicopter on Mars. The drone, called Ingenuity, was airborne for less than a minute, but Nasa is celebrating what represents the first powered, controlled flight by an aircraft on another world.
Getting airborne on the Red Planet is not easy. The atmosphere is very thin, just 1% of the density here at Earth. This gives the blades on a rotorcraft very little to bite into to gain lift. There's help from the lower gravity at Mars, but still - it takes a lot of work to get up off the ground.
Photo: UPI.com
Click here to read more on this phenomenal story then watch the live broadcast below.
Mars Helicopter:
