NASA Ingenuity Mars Helicopter

GS Paper III Science and Technology

Context:

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) regained contact with its Mars helicopter Ingenuity on January 21.

Ingenuity is a small, autonomous aircraft that flew to Mars aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover.
It is a solar powered aircraft which consists of a wireless communication system, navigation system, computers and cameras.
It was built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of NASA.
Significance of Ingenuity: It is an experimental flight test to determine whether life is possible on Mars.

Objective: To study signs of ancient life, and collect samples of soils & rocks that can be sent back to Earth for future missions.
Mission Duration: At least one Mars year (approximately 687 Earth days)
Launched: July 30, 2020, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Ingenuity

NASA Perseverance Rover

Mars Missions	Space Agency (Country)
Mars Orbiter	USSR
Marine series Viking series Pathfinder Rovers: Spirit, Opportunity (2003) Phoenix (2007) Curiosity (2011) Maven (2013-14) Perseverance (2021)	National Aeronautics and Space Administration (USA)
Mars Express (2001)	European Space Agency (ESA)
Mangalyaan (MOM) (2014)	Indian Space Research Organization (India)
Amal (Hope Mission) (2021)	Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (UAE)
Tianwen-1	China National Space Administration (China)

It is the 4th planet from the Sun & is half the size of Earth.
It is also called the Red Planet because of the rusty iron on the ground surface.
It is also a dynamic planet with seasons, polar ice caps, canyons, and extinct volcanoes.
It has a very thin atmosphere & low gravity.
Mars has two moons Phobos and Deimos.

Ingenuity

Red Planet Mars and Its Moons

News Source: The Hindu

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