NASA aims to complete 1st 'Ingenuity' helicopter flight on Mars

NASA is getting ready for the next step after successfully dropping off a helicopter on Mars.

The space agency is days away from attempting the world's first power-controlled flight on another planet.

NASA offered a sneak peek of how the initial flight will work. Ingenuity will rise about 10 feet above the surface and then hover for about 20 to 30 seconds before landing.

The whole process should not take longer than 90 seconds but if it is successful, experts say that it could open up a new era of space exploration in which drones play a major role.

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"Ingenuity will open new possibilities and will spark questions for the future about what we could accomplish with an aerial explorer. Could we image areas not visible from space or that a rover couldn't reach, like shadowed craters with seasonal water flow?" NASA said.

They expect to make the first flight no earlier than April 1st, which is this Sunday. More ambitious flights are planned in the following weeks.

When it does fly, the helicopter will carry a piece of history with it: a fabric from the Wright Brother's original plane which first attained flight in 1903.

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