火星初のヘリコプター動力飛行、４月上旬に実施　ＮＡＳＡ

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】米航空宇宙局（NASA）は23日、超軽量の小型ヘリコプター「インジェニュイティ」を4月8日前後に火星で飛ばすと発表した。地球以外の惑星での制御された動力飛行への初挑戦となる。（写真は米航空宇宙局＜NASA＞の小型ヘリコプター「インジェニュイティ」が火星で飛行しているイメージ画）
　ＮＡＳＡのジェット推進研究所（ＪＰＬ）で火星用ヘリコプターのチーフエンジニアを務めるボブ・バララム氏は、初飛行の日程について「今のところ、４月８日がベストだと思っている」と述べているが、多少前後する可能性もあるとしている。
　バララム氏は、インジェニュイティには、ライト兄弟が１９０３年に地球初の動力飛行を達成した初号機の片翼に使用されていた布の端切れが積まれていることを初めて明らかにした。
　インジェニュイティは初飛行で、秒速約１メートルで３メートルの高さまで上昇し、３０秒間ホバリングした後、地表に戻る。火星の大気密度は地球の約１００分の１で、得られる揚力は小さくなるが、重力は地球の約３分の１のため、必要な揚力は小さくなる。
　１か月間に最大５回、難易度を少しずつ上げた飛行が予定されている。
　飛行中には高解像度の撮影を行うことになっている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/03/24-14:00）

NASA is targeting early April for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter to make the first attempt at powered, controlled flight on another planet, the space agency said Tuesday.
Right now, the ultra-light aircraft remains fixed to the belly of the Perseverance rover, which touched down on the Red Planet on February 18.
On Sunday, Perseverance dropped the debris shield that had protected Ingenuity during landing, and is currently making its way to the airfield where Ingenuity will attempt its flights.
Once there, it will have 30 Martian sols -- equal to 31 Earth days -- to carry out its mission.
The best guess we have right now is April 8, for the first flight, said Bob Balaram, Mars Helicopter chief engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, though he added it could be sooner or later by a few days.
Balaram revealed for the first time that Ingenuity is carrying a small piece of cloth that covered one of the wings of the Wright brothers' first aircraft that achieved the first powered flight on Earth at Kitty Hawk in 1903, to pay tribute to the milestone.
Ingenuity will be attempting to fly in an atmosphere that is one percent the density of Earth's, which makes achieving lift harder -- but will be assisted by a gravity that is one-third our planet's.
The first flight will involve climbing at a rate of about three feet (one meter) per second to a height of 10 feet (three meters), hovering there for 30 seconds, then descending back to the surface.
Ingenuity will be taking high resolution photography as it flies.
Before any of this happens, however, Ingenuity needs to be placed at its launching site, and set upright, a process that will take a few more days.
Once Perseverance drops off the helicopter, it needs to drive away about five meters within 25 hours so it doesn't cast a shadow on Ingenuity.
That's the amount of time Ingenuity's batteries will be able to run a heater without needing to recharge via its solar panels.
This part is critical to surviving the night time temperatures which can plunge as low as minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 90 degrees Celsius).
If left unheated, the helicopter's unshielded electrical components will freeze and crack, killing the mission before it even begins.
If things however go to plan, Perseverance will take up a position at a distance to record Ingenuity's exploits with its own cameras.
Up to five flights of gradual difficulty are planned over the course of the month.
The four-pound (1.8-kilogram) rotorcraft cost NASA around $85 million to develop, and is considered a proof of concept that could revolutionize space exploration.
Future aircraft could cover ground much more quickly than rovers, and explore more rugged terrain.
The next one planned is Dragonfly, a rotorcraft-lander that will launch in 2026 and arrive at Saturn's icy moon Titan in 2034.