On April 7, the restrictions that have kept the rotor blades together since launch are released. If the mission team reaches the milestone, the next sols will involve more testing of the rotor blades and the motors that drive them. There are also cash registers of the inertia unit (an electronic device that measures the body’s orientation and angular velocity) and computers on board that have to operate the helicopter autonomously. In addition, the team will continue to monitor the helicopter’s energy performance, including the assessment of solar power and the state of charge of the six lithium-ion batteries.
If all goes well with each of the myriad pre-flight checks, Ingenuity’s first attempt to pick up from the middle of its 10-to-10-meter ‘airport’ – chosen for its flatness and lack of obstructions – will not be earlier in the evening of 11 April does not take place.
Subsequent flight tests are scheduled during the month of ingenuity, with Perseverance’s cameras providing very high-definition images of the historic mission.
More on ingenuity
The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages this technology demonstration project for NASA headquarters. It is supported by NASA’s Directorate of Science Mission, NASA’s Aviation Research Directorate and NASA’s Space Technology Directorate. NASA’s Ames Research Center and Langley Research Center provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance.
At NASA headquarters, Dave Lavery is the program manager for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. At JPL, MiMi Aung is the project manager and J. (Bob) Balaram is chief engineer.
JPL, run by Caltech in Pasadena, California, for NASA, built and operated the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter.
For more information on ingenuity:
https://go.nasa.gov/ingenuity-press-kit
and
https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter
More about perseverance
An important goal for Perseverance’s mission to Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the geology and climate of the planet, pave the way for the exploration of the Red Planet by humans, and be the first mission to collect Mars rock and regolith (broken rock and dust) and place them in the closet. .
Subsequent NASA missions, in collaboration with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return to Earth for in-depth analysis.
JPL built and managed the perseverance rover’s operations.
For more information on perseverance:
nasa.gov/perseverance
and
mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/