NASA launches first helicopter to Mars (Video)

NASA will soon launch the first helicopter-shaped vehicle to MARS. NASA announced today that it will send a small autonomous flying helicopter – dubbed the Mars Helicopter – with the upcoming Mars 2020 rover.

The helicopter will attempt to fly through the Martian air to see if vehicles can levitate on Mars, where the atmosphere is 100 times thinner than Earth's. The helicopter's design has been in development for four years at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

If the Helicopter manages to fly to Mars, it will bring back images of Mars with two cameras for the first time, something that has never been done before.

Engineers at JPL have been working to get the helicopter's weight and shape just right so it can fly through the thin Martian air.

The highest the helicopter has ever flown was at an altitude of 40 meters, while NASA aims for their helicopter to fly at a distance of 100 meters.Indeksonline/