NASA has announced that its Mars 2020 rover mission will include a small, autonomous helicopter for surveying the red planet from high above the ground. It will mark mankind’s first attempt to fly an aircraft in an alien atmosphere.



“The altitude record for a helicopter flying here on Earth is about 40,000 feet. The atmosphere of Mars is only one percent that of Earth, so when our helicopter is on the Martian surface, it’s already at the Earth equivalent of 100,000 feet up,” said Mimi Aung, Mars Helicopter project manager at JPL.

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Source: [H]ardOCP – Mars Helicopter to Fly on NASA’s Next Red Planet Rover Mission