The first Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, has unlocked two rotor blades as part of ongoing preparations for the first flight, which is scheduled to take place no earlier than Sunday, April 11th.

“Blades of Glory”, aka the rotor blades of a Martian helicopter, unlocked and ready for testing– wrote the California-based NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on Twitter on April 8. – Then, for the first time on the Martian surface, we will carry out a slow rotation of the blades. “ In the animation below, albeit in poor quality, it is still clear that the drone really moved the blades – it looks like everything is going as planned.

Unlocking and testing the Ingenuity blades is the next major milestone before the helicopter attempts to take off. NASA officials said they would test the blades first at 50 and then 2400 rpm before attempting takeoff.

The process of preparing for a helicopter flight is slow and extremely careful. The car-sized Perseverance rover landed inside the 45 km diameter Jezero crater on February 18, when the 1,8 kg helicopter was still firmly attached to the bottom of the rover when folded. After dropping the casing, “Perseverance” deployed “Ingenuity”, brought the helicopter battery charge to 100%, unloaded it to the surface of Mars and drove a short distance, allowing sunlight to reach the helicopter powered by solar panels. Up to this point, the drone was powered by the rover, and now it receives energy exclusively from the sun – it is required not only for flights, but also for heating during cold Martian nights (the temperature drops to -90 ° C). NASA recently released the first low-resolution photo from the helicopter’s lower service camera, followed by a soulful self-portrait of the rover with Ingenuity in the background.

“Ingenuity” Prepares for Flight (NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS / Seán Doran)

Perseverance is now moving away, to a place called Van Zil Overlook (after Jet Propulsion Laboratory senior researcher Jacob Van Ziel). From there, a good view of the selected take-off site will open. If all goes according to plan, the helicopter will take off on April 11, making the first ever propeller flight outside Earth. The cameras of both the drone itself and the rover will take photos and, hopefully, videos during this small but historic takeoff and hovering at low altitude. If all goes well, then Ingenuity will make more difficult flights along predetermined routes.