NASAPress Releases

NASA to Attempt First Controlled Flight on Mars As Soon As Monday

NASA is targeting no earlier than Monday, April 19, for the first flight of its Ingenuity Mars Helicopter at approximately 3:30 a.m. EDT (12:30 a.m. PDT).

Data from the first flight will return to Earth a few hours following the autonomous flight. A livestream will begin at 6:15 a.m. EDT (3:15 a.m. PDT), as the helicopter team prepares to receive the data downlink in the Space Flight Operations Facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Watch on NASA Television, the agency appwebsite, and social media platforms, including YouTube and Facebook.

If the flight takes place April 19, a postflight briefing will be held at 2 p.m. EDT (11 a.m. PDT).

Mars Helicopter Ingenuity blades rotating

Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s blades are made of a lightweight carbon fiber foam core to provide lift in the thin Mars atmosphere.Credits: NASA/JPL-CaltechLearn more about the anatomy of Ingenuity.

The participants are:

  • Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate
  • Michael Watkins, JPL director
  • MiMi Aung, Ingenuity Mars Helicopter project manager at JPL
  • Bob Balaram, Ingenuity Mars Helicopter chief engineer at JPL
  • Håvard Grip, Ingenuity Mars Helicopter chief pilot at JPL
  • Justin Maki, Perseverance Mars rover imaging scientist and deputy principal investigator of Mastcam-Z instrument at JPL

Members of the media who wish to participate in the briefing by telephone must provide their name and affiliation to Rexana Vizza at rexana.v.vizza@jpl.nasa.gov by 12 p.m. EDT (9 a.m. PDT) April 19. Due to operational schedules, limited interview opportunities will be available to media before the Monday flight. To request an interview, go to:

https://bit.ly/mars-landing-media

The public and media also may ask questions on social media during the livestream and briefing using #MarsHelicopter.

Find the latest schedule updates at:

https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/#Watch-Online

The original flight date of April 11 shifted as engineers worked on preflight checks and a solution to a command sequence issue. The Perseverance rover will provide support during flight operations, taking images, collecting environmental data, and hosting the base station that enables the helicopter to communicate with mission controllers on Earth.

This technology demonstration is supported by NASA’s Science, Aeronautics Research, and Space Technology mission directorates. JPL, managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations for Ingenuity and the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover.

Follow Ingenuity via the @NASA@NASAJPL, and @NASAMars Twitter accounts; NASA and NASAPersevere Facebook accounts; and NASA Instagram account.

An Ingenuity press kit is available at:

https://go.nasa.gov/ingenuity-press-kit

Ben

I am the owner of Cerebral-overload.com and the Verizon Wireless Reviewer for Techburgh.com. My love of gadgets came from his lack of a Nintendo Game Boy when he was a child . I vowed from that day on to get his hands on as many tech products as possible. My approach to a review is to make it informative for the technofile while still making it understandable to everyone. Ben is a new voice in the tech industry and is looking to make a mark wherever he goes. When not reviewing products, I is also a 911 Telecommunicator just outside of Pittsburgh PA. Twitter: @gizmoboaks

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