[Edward64]

Ingenuity detached from rover Perserverance and first flight planned on Apr 11. This will be pretty cool if it works!



NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity touches down on the Red Planet | Space

Weighing in at just 4 lbs. (1.8 kilograms), Ingenuity is a tiny, solar-powered helicopter that relies on a rechargeable battery to keep its systems warm during the harsh Martian night. Until today, Ingenuity has been attached to Perseverance's belly, feeding off the rover's nuclear-powered system to stay warm.

Now, the helicopter is using its internal battery to power a vital heater.

"This heater keeps the interior at about 45 degrees F through the bitter cold of the Martian night, where temperatures can drop to as low as -130 F (minus 90 degrees Celsius)," NASA's Bob Balaram, chief engineer for the Mars Helicopter project, wrote in a status update Friday (April 2). "That comfortably protects key components such as the battery and some of the sensitive electronics from harm at very cold temperatures."

Ingenuity is expected to make its first flight on April 11, with the data from that test reaching Earth on April 12, NASA officials have said.