It is official! Bara’a will make its maiden flight to Mars on April 19

Finally the news arrived that all spaceflight enthusiasts were waiting. In fact, Ingenuity helicopter I managed to successfully complete the spin test, A process that he was unable to complete last week due to some software problems. But the date for the first flight test has also been set.

The rotor test was a necessary step NASA It indicates that the goal was accurately scored on April 16, the day the 154th anniversary of Wilbur Wright’s birth was celebrated. Two solutions appear to have been explored, one of which has succeeded.

Encouraging news: # helicopter We completed the spin test at full speed – an important milestone on our way to the first flight. The team is reviewing all data before deciding on a potential flight attempt the next week. We will keep you updated: https://t.co/z7NYDZZswq pic.twitter.com/1F7t7CC9MB

NASA (@ NASA) April 17, 2021

Finally the rotation test was done It was accomplished by adding some commands to the flight sequence, An approach that made it possible to complete the sequence before intervention of the monitoring timer, the security system that thwarted the previous test.

The second method of intervention that was considered was system update, Which is a process we anticipated, but seems to take some time, so it is not clear if this process will end anyway. Here we go, everything should be nearly ready for the first flight, and NASA confirms it The first attempt will be done tomorrow.

🚁 # helicopter Update

We are targeting as soon as Monday for the first controlled flight on Mars. Watch with the team as they receive the data and see if they are successful. We met at the Mission Control Center on April 19 at 6:15 a.m. ET (10:15 a.m. UTC): https://t.co/xAdT9tgYr1 pic.twitter.com/8wJEr3CLJa

NASA (@ NASA) April 17, 2021

Write the date and time, dexterity will try to fly Monday April 19 9:30 in our time zone. But it will take a few hours for the first images and any video sequences to reach Earth, so the space agency has already identified a live event during which JPL technicians share the first data.

NB: Updated on the date of the first flight