The Dhaka Times Desk A heavier-than-air helicopter will now fly and hover over land where the atmosphere is so thin as to be almost non-existent. Again, two pairs of fans will spin wildly on his head.
Instead, the helicopter will fly to Mars, another planet in the solar system. As thin as the atmosphere is at 100,000 feet above where we are standing on the back of the Earth, that helicopter would fly only 15 feet above the atmosphere on the red planet Mars. It will also remind us of the two Wright brothers who gave birth to the first flight on our planet.
This is not a science fiction story, not an epic story. NASA is going to send the helicopter to the 'red planet' next year. Two pairs of rotor blades or fans will rotate on the head. They are about four feet long. The helicopter's wings can rotate about two and a half thousand times per minute. At least 10 times faster than the speed at which the rotor blades or fans rotate on the head of the helicopter. This helicopter will have solar panels on its head. By drawing in sunlight that will help power the batteries inside the helicopter. That battery will spin the rotors (blades).
Suzanne, the manager of NASA's Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology (RVLT) in Virginia, who is the centerpiece of this historic step in space travel, said that a helicopter is currently being sent to Mars. This mission of NASA is called 'Mars-2020' mission. It will fly a total of 5 times to the red planet. Each time it will fly for a minute and a half. The helicopter will have a very powerful camera.
In Suzanne's words, 'which is never possible for a lander to land on the ground of Mars or a rover to plow its soil, that helicopter will do that work in one and a half minutes of flight. The helicopter will try to understand the appearance of different areas on the back of Mars, how much they can tell about the past history.'
Jim Banke, of NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate in Virginia, said: 'The atmosphere 15 feet above the surface of Mars, where we plan to fly this helicopter, is very thin. As the atmosphere becomes thinner at 100,000 feet above the Earth's surface, helicopters sent to Mars will fly in the same thin atmosphere. The task is not easy at all.'
Jim Banke said the heavier-than-air helicopter would have to float in such a thin atmosphere. So the helicopter will look like a ball. Which will weigh a total of 4 pounds in Mereket. The camera on that helicopter will look like a small mobile phone. The helicopter cannot remain afloat in the Martian atmosphere for more than 90 seconds.
Suzanne said, 'In 2013, we started making that helicopter using a state-of-the-art technology. Which will become automatic once it enters Mangal-Mulu. He does not have to send commands from the ground station control room. It will automatically run - fly - turn. It will come down to the lander on the ground of Mars after a certain period of time.
Currently a helicopter is being sent to this red planet. To understand his technical prowess. Suzanne said that if successful, many more such helicopters can be sent for various missions to Mars.
English 
Bengali