Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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Applause erupted around 6:52AM ET in the JPL control room where the Ingenuity leads had assembled to hear the first flight report from the helicopter, which conducted its ascent autonomously a few hours earlier. A minute later, the first images of the aerial milestone arrived, captured both from the perspective of Ingenuity’s downward-facing navigation camera and Perseverance, which watched the flight from a safe distance.
The view from Ingenuity shows the helicopter’s shadow cast on the Martian ground, a stunning visual encapsulation of the team’s accomplishment. Meanwhile, Perseverance captured images of the full flight, revealing the tiny helicopter’s frame against the vast landscape of Jezero Crater.
To generate lift in the extremely thin air of Mars, Ingenuity’s blades had to rotate at an astonishing rate of 2,500 revolutions per minute, roughly five times faster than helicopter rotors on Earth. The helicopter has also survived many frigid nights on Mars since it was first dropped off on the surface by Perseverance on April 3.
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