Drone Chopper made by an Indian Scientist at NASA flies in MARS Atmosphere

NASA, the US space agency, is piloting a helicopter capable of flying in alien atmospheres on Mars. The 1.8 kg chopper, dubbed "Ginny," is part of NASA's Perseverance rover, which was launched in 2020 and is currently operating on Mars.

Dr. J B Balaram, an Indian citizen presently working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, created the aircraft. "It was difficult to build the Ingenuity helicopter because no one believed in it," stated Dr Balaram, a Mechanical Engineering student at IIT Madras.

Ingenuity is a technological marvel that weighs only 1.8 kg, is built of ultra-lightweight carbon fiber, and stands only half a meter tall.

The density of air on Mars is around one-hundredth that of Earth at sea level, or the density of air at 27,000 meters above Earth, an altitude that no modern helicopters can reach.

Ingenuity's blades revolve at 2400 and 2900 rpm, or nearly 10 times faster than any other helicopter on the planet.
Ingenuity is a form of experiment to try powered, controlled flight on another planet for the first time.

The chopper, perched atop the Perseverance rover, stowed away on Mars' surface on February 18, 2021. On April 3, 2021, the Ingenuity helicopter was launched to the surface.

When the rover reached a suitable "airfield" position, it released Ingenuity to the surface to conduct a series of test flights during a 30-day experimental window, similar to India's Chandrayaan rover Pragyan.

Dr Balaram gave his enthusiastic support to India's historic moon expedition.“Vikram landing gave one goose bumps, ISRO should pursue its own goals,”he remarked.

After three successful flights, his helicopter has finished its technical demonstration.

On April 19, 2021, Ingenuity lifted off, rose to roughly 3 meters above the ground, momentarily hovered in the air, performed a spin, and landed.

Having a powered, controllable flight in Mars' incredibly thin atmosphere was a significant achievement. It was also the first trip outside of Earth's atmosphere.

Following that, the chopper successfully completed several testing flights of increasing distance and height. It has flown 64 times in the thin Martian atmosphere so far.He described Flying Ingenuity as a 'Wright Brothers moment' on another planet.

NISAR, an Earth imaging satellite developed jointly by India and the United States, will be launched from Sriharikota early next year. It would be part of the two countries' expanding collaborative space endeavor.

Dr. Balaram, a soft-spoken man, says he will be leaving NASA soon. Now he wants to encourage Indian students get interested in space and aspires to contribute more to outreach in India.

He attributed the success of flying Ingenuity to his hands-on training at IIT Madras. He believes that there are hundreds more youngsters like him who may develop and make India proud.