NASA’s helicopter Ingenuity is set to attempt the first-ever powered flight on Mars today at 12:30 PM in accordance with Pakistan Time Zone. This will be the first time any aircraft will try to ascend 10 feet above the ground while hovering for nearly 30 seconds. Through the cameras on NASA’s Perseverance, the historic attempt will be properly recorded.
The four-pound helicopter which was attached to the Perseverance landed on February 18th, 2021 whose main mission was to search for signs of ancient Martian life. The flight test which will take place today is one of the first of five planned within a 31-day window. Upon the successful execution of the first flight, four other flights will be executed within a specific timeline which will include greater height and distance coverage.
Furthermore, the flight will be live-streamed around 3:15 PM (PKT) on NASA’s YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch, and its official website. However, it is to be noted that due to the long data delay between Mars and Earth a live video of the first attempt will take quite a while. Instead, NASA’s live stream will show engineers gradually analyzing data from Mars that will confirm whether or not Ingenuity survived its attempt.
