Ingenuity Mars Helicopter on the Martian Surface (Artist's Concept) : In this artist's concept, NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter stands on the Red Planet's surface as NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover (partially visible on the left) rolls away. If Ingenuity survives the cold Martian nights during its preflight checkout, the team will proceed with testing.

Once Ingenuity is deployed on Mars' surface after Perseverance touches down, its batteries will be charged solely by the helicopter's own solar panel. The 4-pound (2-kilogram) helicopter – a combination of specially designed components and off-the-shelf parts – is currently stowed on Perseverance's belly and receives its charge from the rover's power supply. 'Since everything went by the book, we'll perform the same activity about every two weeks to maintain an acceptable state of charge.' 'This was a big milestone, as it was our first opportunity to turn on Ingenuity and give its electronics a 'test drive' since we launched on July 30,' said Tim Canham, the operations lead for Mars Helicopter at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The project has determined a low charge state is optimal for battery health during the cruise to Mars.

This marks the first time the helicopter has been powered up and its batteries have been charged in the space environment.ĭuring the eight-hour operation, the performance of the rotorcraft's six lithium-ion batteries was analyzed as the team brought their charge level up to 35%. 7, one week into its near seven-month journey to Mars with the Perseverance rover. NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter received a checkout and recharge of its power system on Friday, Aug. Headed to the Red Planet with the Perseverance rover, the pioneering helicopter is powered up for the first time in interplanetary space as part of a systems check.

Ingenuity drone mars