NASA’s Mars copter survives fast night alone in key test before flight

NASA’s mini Ingenuity helicopter survived its first night alone on the surface of Mars after being dropped off by Perseverance on Saturday. The newly deployed rotor vessel, which withstands the icy Mars temperature, has passed an important independence test, which has given engineers confidence to continue a series of warm-up exercises in preparation for the first flight over the weekend.

“It was one of the great, great achievements we were looking forward to, and now we can move on to the rest of the mission,” Ingenuity Deputy Chief Operating Officer Teddy Tzanetos said in a NASA live stream Monday. “And now we are alone. We are a separate spacecraft on our own energy. ‘

The solar-powered spacecraft arrived on Mars on February 18, stuck to the belly of NASA’s Perseverance Rover. The rover dropped Ingenuity’s protective cover last month to begin a meticulous, week-long deployment process that ended last weekend, with Ingenuity’s four landing gear firmly planted on the Martian surface for the first time. Shortly afterwards, Ingenuity’s 13-megapixel camera snapped its first image off the ground.

Image: NASA / JPL

Perseverance sank back and kicked off the helicopter’s 31-day clock to perform five flight tests and become the first craft to reach a motor flight in another world. The first flight is currently on Sunday, April 11, confirming whether the attempt was successful to get through the Mars-to-Earth pipeline the next day.

Engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory confirmed that Ingenuity on Monday survived the icy cold night temperatures of about -130 degrees Fahrenheit, after the copter sent signals back to Mars base station, a communications center aboard Perseverance.

For its first flight test this weekend, Ingenuity will rise nearly 10 feet from the surface and hover in its place for about 30 seconds. It will rotate while hovering to demonstrate fluid motion, and then begin a gradual descent for landing. Engineers expect to receive images of Ingenuity’s soaring on the morning of April 12, along with plenty of information about the flight.

Perseverance sent back images of Ingenuity shortly after it was unloaded on its ‘helicopter platform’, a small space on one side of its airfield with a runway. Subsequent tests within Ingenuity’s 30-day test window include flying up to 16 feet and zipping forward within the flight zone. The Copter will not perform any scientific missions during his stay on Mars; engineers stressed this is just a flight demonstration.

Ingenuity’s twin rotor system, which stretches four feet, rotates opposite rotations as fast as 2,400 rpm to increase Mars’ ultra-thin atmosphere.

Despite the small and light design of the head, it must be completely independent of power, now that it has detached from the power supply of Perseverance. To do this, the rig has a solar panel above its screws that drives six lithium-ion batteries in its tissue box-sized body, which also contains a computer that is about 100 times more powerful than the throughput capability, and small heaters to keep itself warm. hold by icy Mars evenings.

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