NASA to attempt first controlled flight on Mars on Monday

New Delhi: American space agency NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is likely to make its first take off attempt on Monday.

NASA is targeting no earlier than Monday, April 19, for the first flight of its Ingenuity Mars Helicopter at approximately 3:30 a.m. EDT (01 p.m. IST), the agency said in a media advisory.

“Data from the first flight will return to Earth a few hours following the autonomous flight. A livestream will begin at 6:15 a.m. EDT, as the helicopter team prepares to receive the data downlink in the Space Flight Operations Facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)” the advisory further said.

The Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity, is a technology demonstration to test powered flight on another world for the first time. (UNI)