NASA's Ingenuity helicopter moves its blades before its maiden flight

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter has managed to spin its blades to 50 revolutions per minute (RPM) in preparation for its maiden flight on Mars this weekend. The space agency shared a short animation, captured by cameras attached to Ingenuity's parent craft Perseverance, of the blades rotating. Takeoff of the 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) robotic helicopter, already detached from the Perseverance rover, is now slated for this Sunday (April 11). If successful, Ingenuity, which has become affectionately known as'Ginny', will be the first powered and controlled flight of an aircraft on any planet other than Earth. Ingenuity carries a small amount of fabric that covered one of the wings of the Wright brothers' aircraft, known as the Flyer, during the first powered, controlled flight on Earth in 1903.