CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -NASA and JPL officials described the first Mars Ingenuity helicopter flight as their “Wright Brothers moment", by analogy to the first successful airplane flight on Earth.

Detailed explanation-2: -The first spacecraft to successfully land on Mars, Viking 1 was part of a two-part mission to investigate the Red Planet and search for signs of life. Viking 1 consisted of both an orbiter and a lander designed to take high-resolution images, and study the Martian surface and atmosphere.

Detailed explanation-3: -The NASA helicopter Ingenuity on Mars made the first powered controlled flights by an aircraft on a planet other than Earth. Its first flight was April 19, 2021, after landing February 18 attached to the underside of the Perseverance rover. Ingenuity weighs 1.8 kilograms (4.0 lb) and is 49 cm (19 in) tall.

Detailed explanation-4: -The delta in Mars’ Jezero Crater is an area where scientists surmise that, billions of years ago, a river once flowed into a lake and deposited rocks and sediments in a fan shape. Deltas are believed to be the best places on Mars to search for potential signs of ancient microbial life.

Detailed explanation-5: -The rotorcraft landed on the floor of the Red Planet’s Jezero Crater in February 2021 with NASA’s Perseverance rover, which is hunting for signs of past Mars life and collecting samples for future return to Earth.