Ingenuity Mars Helicopter flies again as first drone on Rose Parade float

NASA’s ingenious Mars Helicopter, the first aircraft to achieve powered flight on another planet, is now the first drone to fly on a parade float – in the form of a flower-covered replica.

But worth flying, a float on the “Rover Rendezvous” float displays flowers during the Rose Parade to celebrate the New Year on Wednesday (January 1) in Pasadena, California. One of the highlights. The buoy was designed in part to celebrate the achievements of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and was built in Flintridge, La Canada, where the NASA and Caltech facilities are located.

“This otherworldly float invites viewers on a journey to Mars, featuring an astronaut teaming up with an alien expedition team for a thrilling ride in a modified Mars rover,” reads Description of Canada Flintridge Hotel Its processional entrance. “All elements of this float are crafted by dedicated volunteers and represent the community’s creativity and passion for innovation.”

The 55-foot-long (17-meter) float is covered in more than 35,000 flowers and features an Ingenuity-like rotorcraft in front and a six-wheeled rover that looks like two of NASA’s robots active on the moon. constructed of components. For example, the rover on the buoy left the same wheel tracks as Curiosity— Print “JPL” in Morse code In “Mars Soil”.

The float is also decorated with “flower graphics” mission patches, including the logos of NASA’s Viking, Pathfinder and Perseverance (Mars 2020) missions rendered in flowers.

The Mars Helicopter from the buoy took off under the control of two drone pilots on board (the drone was also tethered as a safety precaution). Earl Cox, AeroViornment’s chief engineer of communications and systems engineering, helped bring the “clever” display to life, just as the company did for True Ingenuity.

“It’s fun to have everything come together and we can show everyone something, [since] The Mars Helicopter is a million miles away,” Cox said in interview Partnering with local newspaper Outlook Valley Sun. “This is a great opportunity to showcase Mars exploration.”

Ingenuity has flown on Mars a total of 72 times before crashing and sustaining damage in January 2024, 22 months after the accident The first flight that made history. When it’s active, it transitions from serving as a technology demonstrator to supporting the ongoing science mission of the Perseverance rover by scouting the landscape ahead from above.

The addition of fantasy alien visitors was inspired by this year’s parade theme, “The Best Day Ever.” The float continues the story begun in La Cañada’s 2017 work, which depicted a young boy building a rocket in his backyard.

“We thought it would be very smart to send our brave little astronaut to Mars, where he saw the rover and met aliens,” said Ernest Coppen, chairman of the Canadian Flintridge Championships. They had a great trip. “In my opinion, it was going to be the best day ever. “

The “Rover Rendevous” is also the “greenest” float in the parade, replacing its propane-powered animation engine and hydraulic system with an all-electric battery-controlled motor and generator.

Another float faces outer space, representing the theme of this year’s parade. “Chasing Our Dreams” by Odd Fellows & Rebekahs, a sister and service organization, depicts the story of an astronaut riding a rocket along a rainbow-colored path above the Earth, past Mars and Saturn, and toward the stars. The float was built by Phoenix Decoration Company and decorated with 59,600 flowers, including yellow and white starburst chrysanthemums.

Past Rose Parades have celebrated the history of space exploration, including Endeavor space shuttle flower model 2013 and Contains a space flight rose 2009. robot.