NASA’s Mars Helicopter Powers Up in Space

by Ryan Whitwam

NASA’s Perseverance rover is on its way to the red planet following a successful launch and a small glitch with the rover’s software. The new explorer robot has a lot in common with Curiosity but adds more cameras, stronger wheels, and its very own helicopter. NASA has now confirmed that the helicopter, known as Ingenuity, is still in good shape following the launch.

Once Perseverance reaches Mars, NASA JPL hopes to make Ingenuity the first flying robot on another planet. First, it has to get there with all systems operational. Starting on August 7, NASA powered up the helicopter, which is currently mounted to the underside of the car-sized rover. Ingenuity successfully pulled power from the rover’s systems to charge its batteries, allowing NASA to verify its electronics were working correctly.

It took about eight hours to charge the batteries, but NASA only filled them to 35 percent. That was enough to run diagnostics on the helicopter without negatively impacting the longevity of the cells. After all, no one is going to be nearby to swap them out, and NASA would probably prefer to have a working helicopter on Mars for as long as possible even if it’s not essential to the mission.

Ingenuity is could be helpful to Perseverance, but the team is more interested in learning how a…