NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter cleared its initial gate before the very first attempt at powered and controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet.
The agency reported Monday that the helicopter survived the first icy night outside the Mars stray beam on top of the red planet’s rocky surface.
MYSTERIOUS VIOLENCE FROM INSIDE MARCH VISITING NASA LANDER
In the Jezero crater, where endurance landed almost two months ago, the temperature in the evening can drop as low as minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
At that temperature, unprotected electrical components could have frozen or cracked, and batteries needed by solar power for the planned test flights could have been damaged in the process.
NASA’s Mars Helicopter survives the first cold Mars night on its own
(NASA)
NASA announced last week that the first of its maximum five historic flights – within a time limit of 30 March days – would not be attempted by April 4 with the four-pound helicopter.
While Ingenuity initially received its charge from Perseverance, the autonomous rotor craft will now rely on the sun to turn on.
Unlike perseverance, ingenuity finds no scientific tools.
Perseverance, which has multiple cameras and microphones for imaging and recording audio and video, will observe the flight characteristics of Ingenuity from the “Van Zyl Overlook” – named after NASA’s longtime mentor and colleague Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Jakob van Zyl, who passed away unexpectedly in August 2020.
Until then, Ingenuity will collect data on the performance of its thermal control and power systems to ensure that the vehicle can survive each night for the duration of the flight period.
On Wednesday, restrictions that secured the rotor blades will be released and in the next few days, the blades and the helicopter’s motor will be tested more.
In addition, the JPL team will need to monitor Ingenuity’s on-board computers, solar power and six lithium-ion batteries and its inertia unit: an electronic device that measures the body’s orientation and angular velocity.
Then the helicopter will be ready to depart in its ‘airport’ of 33 by 33 feet.
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“This is the first time Ingenuity is on the surface of Mars alone,” MiMi Aung, Ingenuity project manager at JPL, said in Monday’s release. “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 preparing Ingenuity for the first flight test,” she said.