Just a Few Months Time: Humans Will Be Sending a Helicopter to Mars

A few months time humans are going to be sending a freaking helicopter to Mars, and it weighs less than this two-liter bottle of soda. Why is this mission so important? Well, put on your commander gear and lather some baby oil into those biceps because it's time while we're all stuck in lockdown for who even knows how long.

NASA, the US Space Agency, is getting ready to explore another planet again, except this time they want to do it by air. The space agency is dropping off another Martian Explorer in early 2021. The rover known as Perseverance, with a primary mission of looking for previous signs of life on Mars with a suite of science instruments, will not be alone. Tucked away in its belly will be a small helicopter or rotor craft named Ingenuity.

Early in the mission, Perseverance will spill its guts, regurgitating Ingenuity onto the Red Planet like a mama bird feeding a baby bird. Once Ingenuity is released, Perseverance will roll along on the surface of Mars and get out of its way. Shortly after, flight tests will begin, but Ingenuity has to overcome some major challenges to take to the skies of Mars for one reason: we've never actually flown a spacecraft on another planet before. It's not like controlling a drone on earth.

Mars doesn't really have much of an atmosphere, which is there but it's super thin, about 1% as thick as the Earth's, and that means the tech needed to fly is a little different to what we might see down here. Mars is just really cold and really dusty, and it's not shielded from the radiation from space, so it's really nasty on the surface. You really only get one shot, one opportunity to make it all work. Fortunately, Ingenuity is ingenious.

Basically, a box with four legs attached to two carbon fiber rotor blades on top flyers and antennae, and a solar panel like some of our smartphones, Ingenuity even has a tiny clever processor inside its guts. The remarkably simple flyer is not designed to fly all over Mars in fact it's only really designed to fly for short bursts about 30 to 90 seconds at most, but that's important because putting a chopper on the surface of the Red Planet will be useful for scouting missions.

Although we can map Mars from space getting up close and seeing what lies ahead will be useful for future Rover missions. NASA thinks the ability to see further ahead will actually allow Rovers to move across the surface of Mars much faster than they have in the past. An opportunity that little rover which was lost in June 2018 and officially announced dead in February 20, 1928 miles over 14 years, Rovers have to move slowly with NASA engineers on earth feeding instructions that take about 10 minutes to get to Mars.

So carefully planning the route for a rover is important. Imagine having support by a helicopter that would enable Mars rovers to roll further than ever before and at a much faster pace on top of that. NASA's Rovers can't get everywhere they are built like planes, they're built like cars and if they want to get up onto a rocky outcrop or the side of a mountain they have no hope but a helicopter can do that.

And what about when humans finally get to the surface of Mars? Our dreamlike Scouts won't just be gifts that we give to our Martian sons and daughters but they'll be fully fledged surveyors that can help us get a better understanding of life on the Red Planet. Now, NASA notes that Ingenuity is not actually part of the Mars 2020 mission proper Perseverance's main goal is to look for signs of past life and then collect samples which can hopefully one day in the future be brought back to earth.

Ingenuity won't play any part in that it's just a tech demonstration but it's one that aims to prove we can tell a robot to fly all on its own if Ingenuity can take to the skies of Mars, it will be quite an achievement. The world's first helicopter, the very unusual vs-300, only took flight for the first time in 1939, which is just the touch over 80 years ago and now we're gonna go fly on the surface of Mars.

You know I really think that's something that our good friend Arnold Schwarzenegger will be proud of. If you like this video why not hit the subscribe button or check out some of our other cool videos on Mars and Mars rovers they're gonna be around here somewhere one of the editors will put them over this way put them over here and put it over here swear to God if you put it over that side put it here. The people to click on thank you.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enjust a few months time humans are going to be sending a freaking helicopter to Mars there weighs less than this two-liter bottle of soda why is this mission so important well put on your commander gear and lather some baby oil into those biceps because it's time while we're all stuck in lockdown for who even knows how long NASA the US Space Agency is getting ready to explore another planet again except this time they want to do it by air the space agency is dropping off another Martian Explorer in early 2021 the rover known as perseverance the primary mission of perseverance is to look for previous signs of life on Mars with a suite of science instruments but the rover will not be alone tucked away in its belly will be a small helicopter or rotor craft named ingenuity early in the mission perseverance will spill its guts regurgitating ingenuity onto the Red Planet like a mama bird feeding a baby bird once ingenuity is released perseverance will roll along on the surface of Mars and get out of its way and shortly after the flight tests will begin but ingenuity has to overcome some major challenges to take to the skies of Mars for one we've never actually flown a spacecraft on another planet before and it's not like as easy as controlling a drone is on earth second Mars doesn't really have much of an atmosphere it's there but it's super thin it's about 1% as thick as the Earth's and that means the tech needed to fly is a little different to what we might see down here third Mars really likes to kill our robots it's tough for spirit and it's taken Viking 1 and Viking - unfortunately Mars is just really cold and really dusty and it's not shielded from the radiation from space so it's really nasty on the surface and fourth you really only get one shot one opportunity to make it all work fortunately ingenuity is ingenious basically a box with four legs attached to two carbon fiber rotor blades on top flyers and antennae and a solar panel like some of our smartphones ingenuity even has a tiny clever processor inside its guts and that's basically it the remarkably simple flyer is not designed to fly all over Mars in fact it's only really designed to fly for short bursts about 30 to 90 seconds at most but that's important because putting a chopper on the surface of the Red Planet will be useful for scouting missions although we can map Mars from space getting up close and seeing what lies ahead will be useful for future Rover missions NASA thinks the ability to see further ahead will actually allow Rovers to move across the surface of Mars much faster than they have in the past opportunity that little rover which was lost in June 2018 and officially announced dead in February 20 1928 miles over 14 years Rovers have to move slowly with NASA engineers on earth feeding instructions that take about 10 minutes to get to Mars so carefully planning the route for a rover is important imagine having support by a helicopter that would enable Mars rovers to roll further than ever before and at a much faster pace on top of that NASA's Rovers can't get everywhere they are built like planes they're built like cars and if they want to get up onto a rocky outcrop or the side of a mountain they have no hope but a helicopter can do that and what about when humans finally get to the surface of Mars our dreamlike Scouts won't just be gifts that we give to our Martian sons and daughters but they'll be fully fledged surveyors that can help us get a better understanding of life on the Red Planet now NASA notes that ingenuity is not actually part of the Mars 2020 mission proper perseverance --is main goal is to look for signs of past life and then collect samples which can hopefully one day in the future be brought back to earth ingenuity won't play any part in that it's just a tech demonstration but it's one that aims to prove we can tell a robot to fly all on its own if ingenuity can take to the skies of Mars it will be quite an achievement the world's first helicopter the very unusual vs-300 only took flight for the first time in 1939 that's just the touch over 80 years ago and now we're gonna go fly on the surface of Mars you know I really think that's something that our good friend Arnold Schwarzenegger will be proud of if you like this video why not hit the subscribe button or check out some of our other cool videos on Mars and Mars rovers they're gonna be around here somewhere one of the editors will put them over this way put them over here and put it over here swear to God if you put it over that side put it here the people to click on thank youjust a few months time humans are going to be sending a freaking helicopter to Mars there weighs less than this two-liter bottle of soda why is this mission so important well put on your commander gear and lather some baby oil into those biceps because it's time while we're all stuck in lockdown for who even knows how long NASA the US Space Agency is getting ready to explore another planet again except this time they want to do it by air the space agency is dropping off another Martian Explorer in early 2021 the rover known as perseverance the primary mission of perseverance is to look for previous signs of life on Mars with a suite of science instruments but the rover will not be alone tucked away in its belly will be a small helicopter or rotor craft named ingenuity early in the mission perseverance will spill its guts regurgitating ingenuity onto the Red Planet like a mama bird feeding a baby bird once ingenuity is released perseverance will roll along on the surface of Mars and get out of its way and shortly after the flight tests will begin but ingenuity has to overcome some major challenges to take to the skies of Mars for one we've never actually flown a spacecraft on another planet before and it's not like as easy as controlling a drone is on earth second Mars doesn't really have much of an atmosphere it's there but it's super thin it's about 1% as thick as the Earth's and that means the tech needed to fly is a little different to what we might see down here third Mars really likes to kill our robots it's tough for spirit and it's taken Viking 1 and Viking - unfortunately Mars is just really cold and really dusty and it's not shielded from the radiation from space so it's really nasty on the surface and fourth you really only get one shot one opportunity to make it all work fortunately ingenuity is ingenious basically a box with four legs attached to two carbon fiber rotor blades on top flyers and antennae and a solar panel like some of our smartphones ingenuity even has a tiny clever processor inside its guts and that's basically it the remarkably simple flyer is not designed to fly all over Mars in fact it's only really designed to fly for short bursts about 30 to 90 seconds at most but that's important because putting a chopper on the surface of the Red Planet will be useful for scouting missions although we can map Mars from space getting up close and seeing what lies ahead will be useful for future Rover missions NASA thinks the ability to see further ahead will actually allow Rovers to move across the surface of Mars much faster than they have in the past opportunity that little rover which was lost in June 2018 and officially announced dead in February 20 1928 miles over 14 years Rovers have to move slowly with NASA engineers on earth feeding instructions that take about 10 minutes to get to Mars so carefully planning the route for a rover is important imagine having support by a helicopter that would enable Mars rovers to roll further than ever before and at a much faster pace on top of that NASA's Rovers can't get everywhere they are built like planes they're built like cars and if they want to get up onto a rocky outcrop or the side of a mountain they have no hope but a helicopter can do that and what about when humans finally get to the surface of Mars our dreamlike Scouts won't just be gifts that we give to our Martian sons and daughters but they'll be fully fledged surveyors that can help us get a better understanding of life on the Red Planet now NASA notes that ingenuity is not actually part of the Mars 2020 mission proper perseverance --is main goal is to look for signs of past life and then collect samples which can hopefully one day in the future be brought back to earth ingenuity won't play any part in that it's just a tech demonstration but it's one that aims to prove we can tell a robot to fly all on its own if ingenuity can take to the skies of Mars it will be quite an achievement the world's first helicopter the very unusual vs-300 only took flight for the first time in 1939 that's just the touch over 80 years ago and now we're gonna go fly on the surface of Mars you know I really think that's something that our good friend Arnold Schwarzenegger will be proud of if you like this video why not hit the subscribe button or check out some of our other cool videos on Mars and Mars rovers they're gonna be around here somewhere one of the editors will put them over this way put them over here and put it over here swear to God if you put it over that side put it here the people to click on thank you\n"