Pulvis et Umbra Sumus. We are but dust and shadows. It is no secret that our existence is minutely infinitesimal in the enormity of the cosmos. The cosmos or the universe is a magnanimously huge ocean of diverse interstellar particles like dust, rocks, and ice, and intangible forms of dark matter and anti-matter as well. Scientists studying outer space are constantly trying to evolve new theories, and disprove older ones just to develop a better understanding of its existence. But the truth remains that despite over 300 years of research, we only know very little. Intel collated over the past century has been predominantly limited to inner space and our Solar System, and although we have made interesting findings here, we still can never know everything for sure.
Numerous missions have been launched by leading space agencies like NASA(US), Roscosmos/ RFSA(Russia), ESA (Europe), ISRO(India), and CNSA(China) to explore the constitutions of our neighboring planets. Out of all of these, the one planet attracting particular attention towards it has always been our immediate neighbor Mars. Mars has always hoodwinked astronomers to believe that it sports life, but the reality could only be discovered after rigorous explorations. A unique and marveling step towards this has been the ingenious invention of the Ingenuity helicopter. If we have a chance of discovering life at Mars, this is the chef-d oeuvre.
WHAT IS INGENUITY?
Ingenuity, commonly known as ‘The Mars Helicopter’ is a technology demonstration. Its prime job is testing motorized flight in the remote and starkly different environment on Mars. It is a solar-battery-powered drone rotorcraft that traveled to Mars, attached to the underside of the Perseverance rover. It crossed the Cape of Canaveral and landed on the Jezero Crater on the Red Planet on 18th February 2021. As of date, Ingenuity has carried out 3/3 successful test flights on Mars. The Ingenuity helicopter is supervised by The Jet Propulsion Laboratories (JPL) with Dave Lavery as the program executive. NASA officials advocate that Ingenuity would carry out 5 test flights on its tenure to ensure whether aerial monitoring is pragmatically plausible in the hostile surroundings on Mars.
WHY IS IT SUCH A BIG DEAL?
Well, if you are thinking “What’s the big deal, this is what NASA is supposed to do, right,” I beg of you to think again. Ingenuity is named so by high-schooler Vanessa Rupani after the ingenuity and brilliance of the crew who devised its sophisticated yet robust structure. The chopper and its rover Perseverance have been custom-tailored to suit the inimitable environment on Mars. Mars’ atmosphere is only 99% that of Earth’s. Moreover, the temperature at Jezero Crater (landing site for Perseverance) plummets to a teeth-rattling algid temperature of -90 degrees Celsius! This sows the seeds for a dangerous pressure gradient which made winds travel at speeds exceeding 35 km/hr! These severe conditions make it extremely onerous to attain flight. To traverse through the prevalent conditions on Mars, Ingenuity was crafted to be a lightweight (1.8kg) mobile with large and widely interspersed rotor blades with immense power and angular velocity. The team painstakingly tested Ingenuity for flight at sub-zero, scientifically synthesized Martian environments to vamp success rates.
The most entrancing attribute bestowed upon Ingenuity is its decision-making ‘brain.’ Engineers and programmers would repetitively be providing instructions to it from the earth. But certain delay is bound to occur due to the unscalable distances. In a situation where Ingenuity has to act pronto, the helicopter is construed to reject any tardy instructions coming from the earth and act according to its discretion. Ingenuity is capable to map its path by adapting to wind changes, analyzing patterns using images, and keeping its milieu sustainably warm by autonomously utilizing solar radiations. To sum it all, Ingenuity is an intelligent specimen revolutionizing the portfolio of aerial, interplanetary explorations.
INGENUITY -FEATS, AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Ingenuity isn’t NASA’s beloved for no reason. To date, it has had 3 test flights, all of them being successes. What’s even more fascinating is that Ingenuity boosts its performance after every flight. The first flight took place on April 19th, 2021 and Ingenuity rose to a stunning height of 10 feet. This historic record was shattered by Ingenuity’s 2nd launch on April 22nd, 2021 when not only did Ingenuity rise to a “height of 16.5 feet, but it also hovered and moved sideways for 6.5 feet”, said JPL project manager MiMi Aung. The first two flights were 30 seconds and 52 seconds respectively in duration.
However, Ingenuity became one of the only 3 successful launches to Mars and scooped the trophy for rising 16 feet high into the Martian atmosphere and traveling 164 feet at the flashy speed of 4.5 miles an hour on the third flight. All of this was accomplished by staying aloft for 80 extraordinary seconds! Ingenuity is now NASA’s pride and glory and its achievements truly pave the way for aerial, automated explorations. The duo plans to remain on Mars for two years (since July 2020) to explore any signs of prenatal, pre-existential life. Ingenuity is proclaimed for its abilities to click High-definition aerial images, reconnaissance, and explorations into difficult and inaccessible terrains. While Perseverance merely sits and records Ingenuity’s tasks from a distance of 210 feet, for now, it will set sail for its prime objective within 30 days: surveying life on Jezero Crater and illustrative sample collection. Ingenuity has benchmarked echelons for space explorations from an aerial perspective and would lay the foundation stones to a surfeit of akin probing missions.
CONCLUSION
There is no denying that we have a lot more to discover about space. Stats say that we only know less than 2% about the marvel our universe is. However, mortal innovativeness birthing inventions like Ingenuity prove that it was truly an ‘a small step for man but a giant leap for mankind. Humans are seizing not just the world, but also the universe with their dexterity and passion. Ingenuity and all the other spectacular projects to follow would carve a niche for mankind on the sands of Mars. We should be proud of these fulfilled challenges which we as humans have undertaken and aced. And over time if we ever discover life on Mars, they would cherish mankind for the greatness they poured into Ingenuity.
Author: Sanya Sinha is a published author from Patna, Bihar. She is currently doing her B.Tech from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra (2020-2024). She is the author of ‘An Ode to…Verity’ and co-author for ‘World Famous Mysteries Vol: 1’ and ‘World’s Literature Digest’. Sanya has vast experience in article-writing, editing and proof-reading. She has won multiple national and international level poetry and essay-writing contests. She has interned with Monomousumi Services.
Very informative thank you