Perseverance is still landing milestones over on the red planet. Now it has dropped off it tiny helicopter drone, and will send it, Soundwave-like, on its mission of exploration. Here’s more from MOTHERBOARD:
…on Saturday, the rover completed a particularly exciting task: dropping off its tiny helicopter buddy, Ingenuity, onto the Martian surface at Jezero Crater. A four-pound autonomous aircraft that rode to Mars on the belly of Perseverance, Ingenuity is due to take to the air as early as this Sunday. If it is successful, it will become the first vehicle to conduct a powered flight on an extraterrestrial world.
The helicopter’s first test after it was lowered to the Martian surface over the weekend was simply surviving the extremely punishing night on the red planet, without the protection of the rover’s power and heat. With nocturnal temperatures that can reach -130°F (-90°C ), it was a tense moment for the Ingenuity team, but NASA announced that the helicopter had survived the night on Monday.
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