Communication with NASA’s Mars Helicopter restored the possibility of resuming flight within weeks | Sorae Portal to space

NASA announced on June 30 that communication with the Mars Helicopter “Ingenuity” had been restored for the first time in 63 days. Dexterity is in good shape and may fly again in a few weeks.[13:00 يوم 4 يوليو 2023]

Ingenuity, which was installed on NASA’s Mars rover “Perseverance”, touched down on Jezero Crater on the morning of February 19, 2021 JST with Perseverance. After successfully performing the first controlled flight of an aircraft on a celestial body other than Earth in April 2021, it has been running significantly beyond the initial schedule of up to five test flights in one month. I’m here.

Related: NASA has released an “aerial video” taken by a Mars rover. Trip distance and maximum speed update (May 30, 2022)

According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which operates Perseverance and Ingenuity, on April 26, 2023, Ingenuity will make its 52nd flight (horizontal distance of about 363 meters, maximum altitude of 12 meters, flight time of about 139 seconds, planned value ) done. The flight was intended to photograph the surface of Mars for the Perseverance science team and change Ingenuity’s landing site, but communication was lost as Ingenuity descended to Earth.

Since the small Creation weighing 1.8 kg and 49 cm high cannot directly contact the Earth, the communication between the operation team and Creation is carried by Perseverance and a spacecraft orbiting Mars. During Flight 52, there was a hill between the landing site and the Perseverance site at that time, which prevented contact. Plans to recreate it have also been made

‘The area that is currently being explored by Perseverance and Creativity has a lot of undulating terrain, which increases the chances of missing out. It’s a team goal, but sometimes we temporarily push our communication boundaries.”

According to JPL, on June 28, 2023, about two months after Flight 52, contact was restored when Perseverance climbed the hill and was in Creation’s line of sight. Anderson also said, “I am very happy to be able to return to contact range with the Creation and Confirmation of Flight 52,” he said.

[إحدى الصور التي تم التقاطها خلال الرحلة 52 بواسطة Ingenuity. وردت بعد استعادة التواصل مع الإبداع. على اليمين يوجد ظل الإبداع (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech)]

As mentioned earlier, Creation data indicates that conditions are good, and the next flight could take place in the coming weeks. According to JPL, the 53rd flight will travel west to a temporary landing site, and from there continue toward a landing site near an outcrop important to the Perseverance team, and there are also plans to fly.

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• Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
• NASA/JPL – NASA’s innovative Mars Helicopter phones

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