Why the historic flight on Mars was so difficult

PITTSBURGH — It took more than a little ingenuity as the first flight of a powered aircraft on a different planet has been hailed a success.

Ingenuity is the name of the 4-pound helicopter that took flight Monday morning on Mars, The Associated Press reported.

“Altimeter data confirms that Ingenuity has performed its first flight, the first flight of a powered aircraft on another planet,” the device’s chief pilot, Harvard Grip said, the AP reported. Grip had his feet firmly planted on Earth as he supervised the mini aircraft’s flight millions of miles away.

The roughly 40-second flight was historic, as it had to battle the harsh weather on Mars.

It took three hours after the flight to know whether the preprogrammed plan was successful. There had been a software glitch last week that scrubbed an earlier flight. The helicopter had a planned 40-second flight that included spin-up, takeoff, hover, descent and landing.

The helicopter had to make it to Mars safely aboard the Rover Perseverance, that’s why it’s so small. It had to battle the thin atmosphere of Mars, which is just 1% as dense as Earth’s at the surface.

It also had to deal with nighttime temperatures that can drop as low as minus-130 degrees, which can freeze electrical parts of the helicopter. Mars’ atmosphere is harsh.

Roughly 95% is made up of carbon dioxide. Mars does have clouds and it’s been known to have snow made of carbon dioxide, so it’s not like here on Earth where snow is made up of water. Mars also has giant dust storms.

There’s expected to be a 30-day period of more test flights on Mars. Scientists will build on this for future flights on the red planet to study places the rover can’t reach.

You can watch the flight below:

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