How Ingenuity Helicopter Works?

The blades, or “rotors” of a helicopter must spin fast enough to generate a force called “lift”. But lift can only be generated in the presence of some kind of atmosphere. ... Flying Ingenuity in Mars's atmosphere is therefore the equivalent of flying a helicopter on Earth at a height of 100,000 feet.

What is the purpose of Ingenuity helicopter?

The tiny craft is "just a technology demonstration," Ravich said. "Its primary goal is just to see if we can fly on Mars — prove that the technology works." With very little additional technology on board the actual helicopter, Ingenuity isn't designed to do science on its mission to Mars.

How is Ingenuity controlled?

Unlike many consumer drones, Ingenuity is not controlled by changing the rotor speeds. ... When Ingenuity takes off, the rotor is already spinning at the setpoint speed of 2,537 rpm. We take off with a sudden increase in collective control on both rotors, which causes the vehicle to “boost” off the ground.