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Washington (AP) - The small helicopter "Ingenuity", which landed on board the rover "Perseverance" on Mars, is expected to set off on a test flight for the first time in mid-April.
It is planned that “Ingenuity” (in German: ingenuity) will start on April 11 at the earliest, announced the US space agency Nasa.
The pictures that the helicopter shoots would arrive on earth a day later.
It would be the first flight of an aircraft over another planet.
Previously, April 8th was the start date.
After the Perseverance rover landed on Mars, the 1.8 kilogram mini helicopter had already sent an initial status report to the control center in Pasadena, California, indicating that it was in good condition.
During the flight, the helicopter should climb to a height of about three meters, fly there for about thirty seconds, turn, and then come down again and land.
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The “Ingenuity” powered by lithium-ion batteries could make several flight attempts for around a month.
The helicopter has to defy extreme conditions: On Mars it is cold down to minus 90 degrees Celsius at night, the gravitational pull of the planet is also lower and the atmosphere is much thinner.
The “Perseverance” rover, weighing around 1,000 kilograms and the size of a small car, was set up in a risky maneuver in a dry lake called “Jezero Crater” at the end of February.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210401-99-56256 / 2
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