Mars helicopter ingenuity deployment begins

The deployment maneuver of the NASA Intelligence Helicopter on Mars is connected by opening the mechanism that holds it in place and under the rover of diligence on its side.

The rover captured the image on March 28 (Sun 37) at 1:13 pm local time using its Sherlock Watson camera to locate the tower at the end of the vehicle’s robot arm, the mission said in a statement.

You can see that the three legs of the first plane are being carried to another world, with its core body and rotor blades still folded, separated from the houses already in the rover and placed vertically.

This deployment process from the rover began with the release of a locking mechanism that held the helicopter. A cable-cutting pyrotechnic device was then fired, and a spring-loaded arm holding the helicopter began to protrude from its horizontal position.

When walking 67 centimeters on the ground, a small electric motor will pull the arm until it is engaged, bringing the helicopter body fully upright and stopping its spring-loaded two landing legs. Another pyrotechnic ignition will free the other leg.

If everything goes well, the mission controllers will order the delivery system to be released, and the ingenious helicopter will travel the last 5 inches to the ground. Once it is confirmed that it is OK, diligence will be asked to step away so the helicopter can start recharging its batteries through its solar panel.

When it comes time for the first flight, Ingenuity will run its rotors at 2,537 rpm, and if all of the final self-tests go right, it will take off, which is not scheduled earlier than April 8th. After climbing at a speed of about 1 meter per second, the helicopter will fly at an altitude of 3 meters from the surface for 30 seconds. The helicopter will then land and land on Mars again.