Now that NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has completed its first test flight on the red planet, members of the agency’s Jet Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California will prepare for the next phases of their mission.
Following Monday’s historic event, the rotorcraft will attempt solar power for up to four flights over a period of less than 30 days.
NASA INGENUITY MARS HELICOPTER HAS HISTORY WITH FIRST POWERFUL, CONTROLLED FLIGHT ON ANOTHER PLANET
Over the next three March days – also known as sols – the helicopter’s team will receive and analyze data and images from the first flight and devise a plan for the second experimental test, which is scheduled for April 22.
“If the helicopter survives the second flight test, the Ingenuity team will consider extending the flight profile best,” NASA said in a statement on Monday.
Ingenuity will perform up to five flights, assuming NASA continues to successfully clear potential barriers, each with the chance to record additional data for future use.
The Associated Press reported Monday that the ambitious effort could lead the way to a fleet of Mars drones, as well as help helicopter navigation on Earth
Perseverance’s Navcam View on the First Flight of Ingenuity
(NASA)
After Ingenuity finishes, the Perseverance Rover will cultivate itself on the surface again.
Before Ingenuity’s flight, Perseverance drove to the Overlook website where it documented the performance using its Mastcam-Z and Navcam imagery.
NASA’s Perseverance Twitter account also wrote that it had some of the local rocks on the lookout point before the cessation of Ingenuity images.
Perseverance will still be used to communicate through the process with the now autonomous ingenuity.
As NASA notes in its press releases, astrobiology research that includes the search for ancient microbial lives is a primary objective of ‘Percy”s mission to Mars.
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took a selfie with the Ingenuity helicopter, which is seen here about 3.9 meters from the rover. This photo was taken by the WASTON camera on the robotic arm of the Rover on April 6, 2021, the 46th March day, or sol, of the mission. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS
(NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS)
As the rover characterizes the geology of Mars, it will collect and store rock and sediment, which drill core samples into rock targets that are of interest to scientists.
In March, NASA announced that Perseverance’s SuperCam instrument had selected two rock targets, “Yeehgo” and “Máaz”, for study.
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In collaboration with NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) will send spacecraft to Mars to collect the stored samples – stored in tubes and placed on a storage shelf before being placed in the same area on the surface of Mars – and returning them to Earth. for analysis.
The rover may hold more than 30 selected stone and “ground” samples before completing the task.