Jezero crater, an old lake bed on Mars and the current premises of the Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity helicopter, can drop to temperatures of minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit. It is low enough to significantly damage the helicopter’s electrical and battery components.
The 4-pound helicopter was finally separated from the belly of the Perseverance Rover on April 3, where it has since been rammed before the Rover was launched from Earth in July.
Ingenuity underwent a series of movements that unfolded under the rover, resembling the metamorphosis of a butterfly, before dropping the last 4 inches to the Martian surface.
“This is the first time Ingenuity is on the surface of Mars alone,” MiMi Aung, Ingenuity project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement. “But we now have the confirmation that we have the right insulation, the right heaters and enough energy in the battery to survive the cold night, which is a big win for the team. We are excited to continue to advance Ingenuity to prepare for the first flight test. “
Ingenuity, the first rotor vessel sent to Mars, posed a challenge to the engineers who designed it for several reasons. It had to be small enough to hide under the rover without jeopardizing Perseverance’s mission, which is the first to look for evidence of ancient microbial life on Mars.
Ingenuity also had to be lightweight to fly through the Martian atmosphere, which has only 1% of the atmosphere on earth, while still having enough power to warm itself and survive the icy Mars nights. The thin nature of the atmosphere on Mars makes it more difficult to generate elevators and climb upwards.
Shortly after Perseverance Ingenuity landed in the middle of its airfield, the rover of the helicopter returned. This enabled the helicopter’s solar power to collect critical sunlight.
Perseverance sent back images of the helicopter’s four legs sitting on the surface on April 4th. The blades of the helicopter, which are currently stacked on top of each other, will be released on April 7 and the mission team on Earth will send instructions to the helicopter to “wrap” the blades.
The helicopter will also have to go through some cash registers from its computers, which will help Ingenuity to automatically fly through the Martian atmosphere.
Now that Ingenuity does not borrow power and heat from the car owner, the helicopter will return information on the performance of its power and thermal control systems over the next two days. This allows the helicopter team to configure the necessary settings to ensure that Ingenuity survives the next 30 days of its mission.
Ingenuity is a technology demonstration, meaning its mission is short compared to the two-year plan to explore the Jezero crater. Now that the helicopter is on the Martian surface, it has 31 Earth Days, or 30 Mars soles, to perform up to five test flights.
During the first flight, the helicopter will attempt to take off approximately 3 feet into the air from the center of its flat 33-by-33-foot (10-by-10-meter) airfield, turning and hitting back down. The trial should take about 30 seconds. Future flights will test the helicopter’s ability to fly higher and longer.
Meanwhile, the Perseverance Rover will sit on a nearby view and observe the flight, taking pictures, video and audio. It will reach the earth in the days after the first flight.
Once the journey of Ingenuity comes to an end, the rover will focus on its scientific mission and study rocks and collect monsters that will return to earth through future missions.
“Our 30-sol test roster is booming with exciting milestones,” said Teddy Tzanetos, head of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter at JPL, in a statement. “Whatever the future holds, we will get all the flight data we can within the time frame.”