Do you know when you tap an app on your phone, and instead of opening it, it starts downloading an update? That’s kind of what happens to NASA’s helicopter on Mars, Ingenuity.
During a rotor test before the flight on the surface of Mars, the computer on board Ingenuity interrupted operations when it tried to turn on the flight mode. To solve the problem, NASA will implement a software update to the helicopter, the space agency announced Monday.
Now, like waiting to play a video game with a new patch, we’re waiting.
Ingenuity sits on the Martian surface where he will perform his test flight. Perseverance captured this image at a safe distance.
Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU
NASA has identified the problem, so developing a software update should be a simple process. The agency said Monday it was modifying how Ingenuity’s two flight controllers start up, which would help it switch to flight mode.
Unlike a phone that is probably within 100 feet of a WiFi router, ingenuity communicates with the earth through the Perseverance Rover – both of which are approximately 175 million kilometers from the earth. It takes at least 15 minutes for information to move from one planet to another at the speed of light, so it’s not as fast as updating the Twitter app.
Once the update is implemented by NASA on Earth, tests can begin again and we need to get a new estimate on when the flight tests will begin.
If all goes well and ingenuity becomes the first human object to fly on another planet, the helicopter is expected to fly up to four times more over 30 soles (Mars days).
Meanwhile, Perseverance will be sitting at a safe distance, capturing the tech demo with its cameras and assisting if another hotfix is needed. Fortunately, Ingenuity does not need to be plugged in while it is being updated.