back to article NASA sets the date for first helicopter flight on another planet – and the craft will carry a piece of history

Ingenuity, NASA’s dual-rotor drone right now strapped to the belly of the Perseverance rover on Mars, is set to perform humankind's first-ever powered aircraft flight on another planet within the coming weeks. And during this historic trip, fingers crossed, the solar-powered helicopter gizmo will aptly enough carry with it a …

  1. jake Silver badge

    Out of the belly of the Beast, as it were.

    Quite looking forward to this experiment. Hopefully the little critter lasts longer than the design spec, as most of its compadres have.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Boffin

      Re: Out of the belly of the Beast, as it were.

      It probably will not. It can only talk to the DSN via Perseverance, and at some point Perseverance needs to drive away to get on with its main mission, at which point Ingenuity is effectively dead. Once it's proved it works then it's done its job and every sol Perseverance waits for it after that is one less sol doing what it's meant to be doing.

      There have been suggestions (not as far as I know from NASA though, although they probably would not say anyway) that Ingenuity could tag along for a while: I suspect that the comms & other overhead of having it do that is a cost people don't want to pay though. Also that increases the chance of something bad happening which causes it to hit Perseverance, which would be Very Bad Indeed.

      1. Eclectic Man Silver badge
        Joke

        Re: Out of the belly of the Beast, as it were.

        Looking at the pictures of the Perseverance rover, I see now that those NASA boffins forgot the helipad allowing it to give the drone a ride, or the arm to pick it up from the ground.

        Oh, well, back to the drawing board.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Pint

          Re: Out of the belly of the Beast, as it were.

          I guess it will have to wait for Elon to send Of Course I Still Love You to Mars.

          It's one small hop for drone, one giant leap for dronekind.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Pirate

        Re: Out of the belly of the Beast, as it were.

        So, look at that: five drive-by downvotes and no upvotes for saying something which is very well known and entirely uncontroversial to anyone who has been following the mission in any detail. I don't know what that says, but it's nothing good.

        (I don't care about the imaginary internet points: I'd make this comment if it was someone else's correct answer.)

        1. RegGuy1 Silver badge

          Re: Out of the belly of the Beast, as it were.

          Well I gave you an upvote. It's a technology tester. Once the device has tested the technology, it's job is done. Hey, it's just a machine -- don't get sentimental over it!

          1. jake Silver badge

            Re: Out of the belly of the Beast, as it were.

            However, NASA is well known for over-engineering systems that continue to work well past their sell-by date ... and then managing to beg/steal/borrow enough budget to continue doing science well after the planned end of mission. Whether or not it happens in this case is anyone's guess. If I were a betting man (I'm not), my money would be on NASA making several dozen more flights than originally planned. If it still works, it is a truly unique opportunity, so why not?

            No, thwere isn't a bandwidth issue, and no, it's not going to damage the rover unless some dumb-ass manages to do a fly-by and screws the pre-programmed flight path up ... which is unlikely to say the least. MarsLab doesn't hire cowboys.

  2. Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse

    What are the chances...

    What are the chances that the first images the little 'copter sends back will be of it rising over a ridge and there will be some implausibly fit brunette in a bikini on a paddle board taking selfies?

    Or maybe I just need to address my YT viewing habits?

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: What are the chances...

      Shirley a blonde, a redhead and a brunette in bikinis, with machine guns. I'm fairly certain I saw that on the cover of a scientific journal back when I was a callow yoof.

      1. 0laf

        Re: What are the chances...

        Doesn't matter the colour of their hair, you just know they'll have a fine green tan.

        William Shatner and Chris Pine will be banging on Elon's door demanding the first flight out there.

        I genuinely wish them luck with this. Looking forward to the pictures

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: What are the chances...

        Shirley ... The Leather Goddesses of Phobos

    2. zuckzuckgo Silver badge

      Re: What are the chances...

      "The chances of anything coming from Mars

      Are a million to one, but still they come!"

  3. Spherical Cow Silver badge
    Joke

    It'll hit a tree.

    Every new drone hits a tree on its first flight.

    1. Captain Scarlet Silver badge
      Alien

      Re: It'll hit a tree.

      Who flew this mini helicopter into my window!

      1. ICL1900-G3

        Re: It'll hit a tree.

        Are you The Captain Scarlet? Respect!

    2. zuckzuckgo Silver badge

      Re: It'll hit a tree.

      Finally, life on mars!

  4. claimed Bronze badge

    Flightpath

    Does the flight make the flat 10m x 10m area the first interstellar airfield as well? If so, what's the exclusion zone for drones?

    1. Mast1
      Black Helicopters

      Re: Flightpath

      First they will have to wake up the air-traffic controllers.

      So is the piece of the Wright Flyer your ${HOME_DELIVERY_SUPERMARKET} substitute for the lemon-scented hand wipes ?

      1. Alan Brown Silver badge

        Re: Flightpath

        It's certainly about as technically relevant (wright flyer was a technological dead-end which even the Wrights quickly abandoned as it was too dangerous to fly and the "competing" designs were airborne for several weeks before news that the Wrights had beaten them into the air filtered through(*))

        It would be on par with taking an original AT&T point contact transistor along as a "historical sample" when the entire semiconductor industry is based on parallel-developed philips thin film technology that was demonstrated a few weeeks after the AT&T effort

        Whmsy? Ego? Nostalgia? Yes

        Spiritual ancestor of the helicoptor on Mars? No

        (*) I'm going to leave Santos and Pierce on the wayside here, because despite claims there's simply not enough evidence they flew first

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: Flightpath

          "Whmsy? Ego? Nostalgia? Yes"

          Absolutely! And there is nothing wrong with that.

          "Spiritual ancestor of the helicoptor on Mars? No"

          Totally disagree ... Spiritual, yes. Genetic? Not so much.

    2. Jimmy2Cows Silver badge
      Mushroom

      Re: Flightpath

      [Logic error: rover must deposit drone within drone exclusion zone.]

      [Logic error: drone must launch from airfield within drone exclusion zone.]

      [Metaphysical dichotomy detected.]

      [Shutting down.]

      Hopefully this won't happen. Nor this ------------>

      1. David 132 Silver badge
        Terminator

        Re: Flightpath

        Upvoted purely for your use of the phrase "metaphysical dichotomy" in the context of an artificial intelligence. Were you by chance thinking of that unfortunate incident with Hudzen, Kryten's replacement?

  5. Potemkine! Silver badge

    Wright brothers’ Wright Flyer, which is recognized as Earth's first successful heavier-than-air powered aircraft.

    Definitively not! The fist heavier-than-air powered aircraft that was able to fly was Clement Ader's Eole, 13 years before Wright's plane.

    1. Denarius

      first flight ?

      A few machines got off ground earlier than Wrights. But were any of them controllable, steerable and stable ? How many got out of ground effect ? Certainly not Aders. 20cm is ground effect distance, not true aviation.

      1. Potemkine! Silver badge

        Re: first flight ?

        Being able to turn is not required to be the first heavier-than-air object to fly using its own means to leave the ground.

        Wright brothers made the first controlled airplane, but they didn't make the first flight of an heavier-than-air machine.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: first flight ?

          Yup. There's a LOT of quibbling to be had regarding the early days of aviation history, but there was definitely a powered heavier-than air craft before the Wrights efforts - but it was NOT capable of, or intended to, carry a human, and there were quite a few who achieved gliding manned flight before the Wrights did (notably Lilienthal) , indeed the Wrights were inspired by what they'd heard of others achievements, and built upon them with their own experimentation. People had been looking into gliding flight for a century or so beforehand.

          The Wrights achievement was a great step forward, and deserves its place in history. I just wish that some of the other aviation pioneers were better known, though!

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Alien

          Re: first flight ?

          Or even of a powered one. I think the whole 'being controlled' and 'not being ground-effect' does count for rather a lot though.

    2. Zack Mollusc

      Wrong!

      You are forgetting that Earth == America.

      1. Eclectic Man Silver badge

        Re: Wrong!

        Indeed. I believe that the Smithsonian Museum of Aerospace is required to state that the Wright Flyer was the first powered flight of a heavier-than-air-craft in the world or they will lose the right to exhibit it.

    3. diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

      Pedantry

      Ah come on, you know what we meant. The Wright Flyer was a recorded first whereas we're having to take Eole's word for it. That's why we said the Flyer was recognized as the first.

      C.

  6. Cuddles

    High speed

    "we want to have our big friend drive away as quickly as possible"

    No matter how amazing an achievement this all is, whenever they talk about driving as fast as possible I just can't help having the steamroller scene from Austin Powers pop into my head.

  7. Paul Crawford Silver badge
    Linux

    Penguins in SPAAAACCCCEEEEEE.....

    I had to say it.

    1. bill 27

      Re: Penguins in SPAAAACCCCEEEEEE.....

      Well it should put an end to the "Penguins can't fly" nonsense.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Linux

        Re: Penguins in SPAAAACCCCEEEEEE.....

        Although reading the flight plan in the article, it's more of a Penguins can jump, which we already knew.

        I look forward to developments on future probes stemming from this. Nuclear powered maneuverable drones (possibly with frickin lasers).

      2. GBE

        Re: Penguins in SPAAAACCCCEEEEEE.....

        Penguins fly.

        They just do it underwater.

        1. Keven E

          Re: Penguins in SPAAAACCCCEEEEEE.....

          https://youtu.be/9dfWzp7rYR4

  8. Mullah Bob

    Lost Luggage

    Amelia Earhart luggage, the only brand that loses itself over the South Pacific!

    1. zuckzuckgo Silver badge
      Happy

      Re: Lost Luggage

      To soon?

  9. Dvon of Edzore
    Coat

    Just asking

    Is "bit of Wright Flyer" now like fragments of the True Cross that all pilgrims are expected to carry?

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: Just asking

      Of course. Do you have your piece yet? I just so happen to have just the bit you are looking for. For a small donation to cover the risks I took to retrieve it from the heathens in North Carolina ...

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Nothing there..

    I am braced for more images of nothing from a new angle.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Nothing there..

      And we'll all await your next post about nothing at all, not.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Nothing there..

        You'd miss them.. Well more than you'd miss another pic of nothing on Mars at any rate.

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