The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s carbon fiber blades could be seen on this video taken by the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover on April 8, 2021, the forty eighth Martian day, or sol, of the mission. They're performing a wiggle take a look at earlier than the precise spin-up to make sure they had been working correctly. Credit score: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
The primary plane to attain powered, managed flight on one other planet has garnered an award whose previous recipients make up a timeline of aerospace innovation and achievement.
The Nationwide Aeronautic Affiliation has bestowed the celebrated Robert J. Collier Trophy on the staff behind NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, cementing the pioneering rotorcraft’s place in aerospace historical past simply as it's about to embark on its second yr of flying within the frigid, extraordinarily skinny ambiance of the Crimson Planet.
Established greater than a century in the past, the award has marked main achievements within the timeline of flight, together with Orville Wright in 1913 for growing the automated stabilizer, Air Pressure take a look at pilot Chuck Yeager for his sound-barrier-breaking 1947 flight of the X-1 rocket airplane, and the crews of NASA’s Apollo 8, 11, and 15 for his or her missions to the Moon within the late Sixties and early ’70s.
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter lands with a comfortable bounce after its fifth flight, as captured by the Mastcam-Z imager aboard Perseverance. The helicopter has been honored with a number of awards since its historic first flight on April 19, 2021. Credit score: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Nationwide Aeronautic Affiliation awards the trophy yearly for “the best achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to bettering the efficiency, effectivity, and security of air or house autos.” For the staff at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, it’s particularly significant to be included amongst previous winners after the big challenges they confronted by seeing the mission launch and take flight amid a world pandemic.
“Practically each step we took on this journey moved into uncharted territory, and plenty of didn’t consider we’d even make it into the air. Now, pondering again to ready nervously to see if our first sortie can be a hit, it’s unbelievable to be the place we're in the present day,” mentioned JPL’s Teddy Tzanetos, staff lead for the helicopter. “The Collier Trophy is such an honor, and I’m so happy with everybody who labored so laborious to appreciate this imaginative and prescient.”
The helicopter started as an thought from JPL’s Bob Balaram. It was championed by former JPL Director Charles Elachi, with the late Jakob van Zyl offering management and inspiration to the staff that developed the rotorcraft.
Ingenuity landed on the Crimson Planet in February 2021 hooked up to the stomach of NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover and first took flight April 19, 2021. Designed as a know-how demonstration, Ingenuity was deliberate to finish not more than 5 flights. However the craft, which is simply 19.3 inches (49 centimeters) tall and weighs lower than 4 kilos (2 kilograms), has accomplished 24, defying expectations and transitioning into an operations demonstration, serving as an aerial scout for Perseverance. With Ingenuity’s mission prolonged by way of September 2022, it may well proceed testing its limits so as to help the design of future Mars air autos.
Different Honors for Ingenuity
The Collier Trophy provides to a listing of awards obtained by NASA’s Ingenuity staff. Final month, the Ingenuity staff accepted the Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy from the Nationwide House Membership & Basis, in addition to the Michael Collins Trophy for Present Achievement from the Smithsonian’s Nationwide Air and House Museum.
The staff additionally lately gained the Vertical Flight Society’s Howard Hughes Award for “excellent enchancment in elementary helicopter know-how,” the John L. “Jack” Swigert, Jr. Award for House Exploration from the House Basis, Aviation Week Community’s 2021 Laureate Award, and the Royal Institute of Navigation’s Duke of Edinburgh’s Navigation Award for Excellent Technical Achievement. Ingenuity shall be honored with the 2022 IEEE Spectrum Rising Know-how Award at a Might 6 ceremony in San Diego.
Extra About Ingenuity
The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was constructed by JPL, which additionally manages the mission for NASA Headquarters. It's supported by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. NASA’s Ames Analysis Heart in California’s Silicon Valley and the company’s Langley Analysis Heart in Hampton, Virginia, supplied important flight efficiency evaluation and technical help throughout Ingenuity’s growth. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm, and SolAero additionally supplied design help and main car elements. Lockheed House in Denver designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Supply System.
At NASA Headquarters, Dave Lavery is this system government for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter.
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