[Reading Science] The 'Appendix' That Created a 'Big Hit'... US NASA Declares Conquest of Mars Sky

On the Morning of the 19th, Mars Exploration Helicopter Ingenuity Achieves First Powered Flight Success

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] "The sky of Mars is no longer a forbidden zone."

On the 19th, when NASA's Mars exploration helicopter 'Ingenuity' (meaning originality) succeeded in powered flight outside Earth for the first time, Steve Jurczyk, acting NASA administrator, made this statement. He said, "We do not know where Ingenuity will lead us," adding, "But today's result at least shows that the sky of Mars is not a forbidden zone." It was a moment declaring that the sky of Mars has finally become part of humanity's domain.

Ingenuity, which NASA sent to Mars aboard the Perseverance rover in February, took off at around 3:30 a.m. Mars time from Jezero Crater, rising to a height of 10 feet (3.48 meters) and successfully hovering for 30 seconds. Under the watchful eyes of Perseverance about 70 meters away, Ingenuity flew for a total of 39.1 seconds over the barren, desert-like Martian terrain. According to The Washington Post (WP), Ingenuity was buffeted by a light wind after takeoff, then rotated its body about 96 degrees before safely landing and entering hibernation again to recharge its power.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

◇ Humanity's First Powered Flight Outside Earth = The small drone that took off from the surface of Mars that day created a new history. It was the first case of a powered flying vehicle flying by its own power outside Earth. It was a reenactment on Mars of humanity's first powered flight, which the Wright brothers achieved in 1903 near Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA. NASA attached a piece of the wing from the Wright brothers' Flyer to Ingenuity to give it symbolic meaning.

The flight was not easily achieved. Mars' gravity is only one-third that of Earth's. Also, the atmospheric density is about one-hundredth of Earth's. NASA engineers made Ingenuity from very lightweight materials to enable flight in the Martian atmosphere. Although about 49 cm tall and weighing 1.8 kg, Ingenuity weighs only 0.68 kg on Mars due to the lower gravity. The four carbon fiber blades were designed to rotate at about 2,400 revolutions per minute, roughly eight times faster than a typical helicopter. NASA issued the flight command through Perseverance, Ingenuity's mothership, from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California the day before. The success or failure of the flight could only be confirmed three hours later when Perseverance relayed the data to NASA via a Mars orbiter. The first flight attempt on the 11th was interrupted due to rotor speed issues during testing but was resumed after troubleshooting.

NASA decided to name the site of Ingenuity's successful flight 'Wright Brothers Field' to commemorate the achievement. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) officially recognized Ingenuity as an aircraft and assigned it the callsign (INGENUITY), celebrating the expansion of humanity's flight domain. The New York Times (NYT) evaluated, "(Ingenuity) did not fly far or long like the Wright brothers' first flight, but it showed what is possible."

◇ A Revolutionary Change in Extraterrestrial Planet Exploration = Until now, Mars exploration was limited by terrain constraints using rovers. In the future, technological advances will allow flying vehicles to rapidly traverse planets, heralding a revolutionary change. It was the first proof that flight is possible even in atmospheres with densities and compositions completely different from Earth's.

Michael Watkins, director of JPL at NASA, said at a press conference immediately after the success, "What the Ingenuity team has achieved gives us 'three dimensions,' meaning it has forever freed planetary exploration from being limited to the surface." NYT reported, "If the Wright brothers' flight changed how humans and objects move around Earth, Ingenuity will provide a new mode of mobility for NASA's exploration of the mysteries of the solar system."

WP also quoted Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's associate administrator for science, saying, "A new door has been opened. Ingenuity can fly to other areas and craters where rovers cannot go," emphasizing the breakthrough.

NASA currently has no plans to prepare another Mars exploration drone. However, Bob Balaram, NASA's chief engineer for Ingenuity, revealed, "We have started designing a larger Mars exploration drone that weighs 10 times more and can carry 10 pounds (about 4.5 kg) of scientific equipment."

Ingenuity plans to conduct four more flights. Three of these, including the flight on this day, are to test basic flight capabilities. NASA aims to complete testing whether Ingenuity, which landed on Mars on the 3rd of this month, can fly up to 600?700 meters within 30 Martian days (31 Earth days). NASA invested $2.7 billion (about 3 trillion KRW) in developing Perseverance and $85 million (about 95 billion KRW) in developing Ingenuity.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

◇ Achievements Created by a ‘Supplement’ = In fact, Ingenuity's flight success was part of NASA's fifth Mars exploration project but was not the core mission. Perseverance, which arrived on Mars in February, primarily aims to investigate whether life ever existed on Mars. It includes analyzing the chemical composition of Martian rocks and soil by laser and studying whether it can generate oxygen by decomposing carbon dioxide on Mars. After test flights, Perseverance plans to leave Ingenuity behind and move along the edge of Jezero Crater to a delta region where traces of ancient life may remain.

NASA also explained immediately after the success, "Ingenuity, one of the technology demonstration projects, does not contain scientific instruments inside," adding, "Instead, this 4-pound helicopter is meant to show whether the aviation sector can be included in future Mars exploration."

Paradoxically, this situation was the key to the first-ever powered flight on Mars. NYT noted, "Due to the loose technical requirements, engineers were able to use off-the-shelf processors with more computing power than all previous interplanetary spacecraft combined," adding, "(These processors) were not suitable for harsh space conditions and vulnerable to radiation but met the computational needs to maintain stable flight."