In the concept of this artist, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter stands on the surface of the red planet while the Perseverance Rover (partially visible on the left) rolls away. Image via NASA / JPL-Caltech.
NASA has again pushed back the flight date for the Mars helicopter, called Ingenuity. According to the agency’s latest status update, released on April 12, 2021, the first experimental flight of the helicopter – originally scheduled for April 11 – will be rescheduled at the earliest week. Before the flight can happen, NASA must reinstall the software to solve a problem that arose when engineers tried to call the helicopter. advance flight on flight wise. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California – the facility that manages the helicopter’s activities – is currently reviewing the software updates. NASA has outlined four steps the team must take before a new flight date can be scheduled:
• Diagnose the problem and develop potential solutions
• Develop / validate and upload software
• Download flight software on flight controllers
• Boot Ingenuity on new flight software
Additional information is available from NASA.
Exactly when Ingenuity will take off from Mars, NASA said:
Our best estimate of a targeted flight date is fluent at the moment, but we’re working to reach these milestones and will set a flight date next week.
Ingenuity arrived on Mars with the Perseverance Rover on February 18 after making the long journey to the red planet under the belly of the Rover. The small helicopter has separated from Perseverance and is now preparing to take to the air during a month-long test campaign. NASA will stream the output live, which viewers can watch via NASA TV.
If Ingenuity’s flight is successful, it will be the first powered, guided flight on another planet. A handful of other test flights are expected to follow during a month-long campaign aimed at enabling aerial reconnaissance in Mars’ thin atmosphere. JPL writes in a tweet posted early April 8:
“Memorial bottle, isn’t it?”
The blades of glory, also known as rotor blades of the #MarsHelicopter, is unlocked and ready for testing. Next, we will turn the blades on the Mars surface for the first time. https://t.co/TNCdXWcKWE pic.twitter.com/ZUTHRGFGia– NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) 8 April 2021
Ingenuity’s flight preparation process was slow and careful, in part because the 1.8kg helicopter made the trip to Mars in a folded configuration. It was tucked behind the body of the Rover behind a protective shield. But after the shooter dropped the shield and drove to the airport, the helicopter staff ordered the device to unpack and unfold slowly. Subsequently, throughput had to be placed directly on the Martian surface and drive away so that the solar panels of the helicopter could support the aircraft.
Unlocking and testing the Ingenuity blades were the last major milestones before preparation before the helicopter attempted to fly. NASA officials said they would first test the blades at 50 and then at 2,400 rpm before attempting to fly the helicopter.
If Ingenuity is successful, future red-planet missions could typically include helicopters, which could serve as scouts for robbers and collect data themselves, NASA officials said. Ingenuity will not collect any data, as the small rotorcraft contains no scientific tools. But it will document its flights with a high-resolution camera. And perseverance will also keep an eye on it from a safe distance. There is even a chance that the rover could record audio from Ingenuity’s flights using its two microphones on board, NASA officials said.
Meanwhile, while Ingenuity prepares its flight, Perseverance looks at its surroundings and sends images back. The car-sized rover took photos of his own tire tracks and his sophisticated scientific arm, among other things.
A beautiful new photo mosaic (below) shows NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter. Community Scientist Seán Doran created it by pasting together 62 photos taken by the rover. Doran posted via his Twitter account, @_TheSeaning. He said he put the composite images through a ‘listening, recovery and exclusive process’ before combining them: a process he calls ‘difficult’. The payout is seen below.
Until we meet again@NASAPersevere pic.twitter.com/1daQFZoifi
– Seán Doran (@_TheSeaning) 7 April 2021
Ingenuity also took its first color photo on April 3, shortly after it was dropped by the Perseverance rover to Marsvuil. The photo shows the floor of Mars’ Jezero crater, 28 kilometers wide (45 kilometers), and a section of two wheels of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. Doran told Space.com:
The focus on the connection between Percy and Ginny was an obvious choice for this composition. It’s very exciting to see new photos from another planet, but this is very special, and I expect the technology demo to be a huge success.
This low-resolution view on the floor of the Jezero crater of Mars and a section of two wheels of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover was captured on April 3, 2021 by the agency’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter. This is the first color photo Ingenuity took on the Martian surface. . Image via NASA / JPL-Caltech.
Once Ingenuity’s work is completed, perseverance will begin the main objectives of its own scientific mission. The six-wheeled robot will be looking for signs of ancient Mars life and collecting and storing dozens of monsters for future returns to Earth.
NASA rightly chose the Jezero crater as the landing site for the Perseverance Rover. Scientists believe the area was once flooded more than 3.5 billion years ago and is home to an ancient river water delta. River channels flowed over the crater wall and created a lake with clay minerals from its vicinity. Microbial life could have lived in the crater during one or more of these wet periods, and if so, signs of their remains would appear in sediments along the bank or banks. Scientists will study how the region formed and developed, looking for signs of past life and collecting samples of Mars rock and soil that could preserve these signs.
In short: The need for a software update delayed the first flight of Ingenuity, a helicopter that will explore Mars. On April 12, 2021, NASA said that Ingenuity may fly next week, and when it does, it will be the first powered, guided flight on another planet. NASA will stream the event live.
Read more about EarthSky: Touchdown! Perseverance lands successfully on Mars
Via Space.com
