Topic: NASA’s Mars Ingenuity Helicopter

NASA continues work towards Mars Ingenuity Helicopters First Flight

April 15, 2021 |

Pasadena, CA – NASA’s Ingenuity team has identified a software solution for the command sequence issue identified on Sol 49 (April 9th) during a planned high-speed spin-up test of the helicopter’s rotors.

Over the weekend, the team considered and tested multiple potential solutions to this issue, concluding that minor modification and reinstallation of Ingenuity’s flight control software is the most robust path forward.

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter unlocked its blades, allowing them to spin freely, on April 7th, 2021, the 47th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This image was captured by the Mastcam-Z imager aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover on the following sol, April 8th, 2021. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA delays Mars Helicopter Flight

April 13, 2021 |

Washington, D.C. – Based on data from the Ingenuity Mars helicopter that arrived late Friday night, NASA has chosen to reschedule the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s first experimental flight to no earlier than April 14th, 2021.

During a high-speed spin test of the rotors on Friday, the command sequence controlling the test ended early due to a “watchdog” timer expiration. This occurred as it was trying to transition the flight computer from ‘Pre-Flight’ to ‘Flight’ mode.

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter unlocked its blades, allowing them to spin freely, on April 7th, 2021, the 47th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter set to take Flight, Sunday

April 10, 2021 |

Washington, D.C. – NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is two days away from making humanity’s first attempt at powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet.

If all proceeds as planned, the 4-pound (1.8-kg) rotorcraft is expected to take off from Mars’ Jezero Crater Sunday, April 11th, at 12:30pm local Mars solar time (9:54pm CDT, 7:54pm PDT), hovering 10 feet (3 meters) above the surface for up to 30 seconds.

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter unlocked its blades, allowing them to spin freely, on April 7th, 2021, the 47th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This image was captured by the Mastcam-Z imager aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover on the following sol, April 8th, 2021. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA’s Perseverance Rover sends First Weather Report from Mars

April 9, 2021 |

Washington, D.C. – The weather often plays a role in our daily plans. You might put on a light jacket when the forecast calls for a cool breeze or delay your travel plans because of an impending storm. NASA engineers use weather data to inform their plans, too, which is why they’re analyzing the conditions millions of miles away on Mars.

The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) system aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover first powered on for 30 minutes on February 19th, approximately one day after the rover touched down on the Red Planet. Around 8:25pm PST that same day, engineers received initial data from MEDA.

Wind sensors that are part of the MEDA instrument suite can be seen deployed from the mast of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover in this image taken before the rover was launched. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover takes photo with Ingenuity Helicopter

April 8, 2021 |

Pasadena, CA – NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took a selfie with the Ingenuity helicopter, seen here about 13 feet (4 meters) away in this image from April 6th, 2021, the 46th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

Perseverance captured the image using a camera called WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering), part of the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) instrument, located at the end of the rover’s robotic arm.

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took a selfie with the Ingenuity helicopter, seen here about 13 feet (3.9 meters) from the rover. This image was taken by the WASTON camera on the rover’s robotic arm on April 6, 2021, the 46th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

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NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter makes it through First Night on Mars

April 6, 2021 |

Washington, D.C. – NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has emerged from its first night on the surface of Mars.

Evening temperatures at Jezero Crater can plunge as low as minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 90 degrees Celsius), which can freeze and crack unprotected electrical components and damage the onboard batteries required for flight.

Surviving that first night after being deployed from where it was attached to the belly of NASA’s Perseverance rover on April 3rd is a major milestone for the 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) rotorcraft.

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter can be seen on Mars as viewed by the Perseverance rover’s rear Hazard Camera on April 4th, 2021, the 44th Martian day, or sol of the mission. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA prepares Ingenuity Mars Helicopter for First Flight

March 24, 2021 |

Washington, D.C. – NASA is targeting no earlier than April 8th, 2021 for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter to make the first attempt at powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet. Before the 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) rotorcraft can attempt its first flight, however, both it and its team must meet a series of daunting milestones.

Ingenuity remains attached to the belly of NASA’s Perseverance rover, which touched down on Mars on February 18th. On March 21st, the rover deployed the guitar case-shaped graphite composite debris shield that protected Ingenuity during landing.

NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter on Mars (Illustration). (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover records audio of it driving on Mars

March 19, 2021 |

Pasadena, CA – NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover recorded audio of itself crunching over the surface of the Red Planet, adding a whole new dimension to Mars exploration.

As the Perseverance rover began to make tracks on the surface of Mars, a sensitive microphone it carries scored a first: the bangs, pings, and rattles of the robot’s six wheels as they rolled over Martian terrain.

“A lot of people, when they see the images, don’t appreciate that the wheels are metal,” said Vandi Verma, a senior engineer and rover driver at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “When you’re driving with these wheels on rocks, it’s actually very noisy.”

NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its onboard Left Navigation Camera (Navcam). (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover takes it’s first Drive on Mars

March 7, 2021 |

Washington, D.C. – NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover performed its first drive on Mars on March 4th, covering 21.3 feet (6.5 meters) across the Martian landscape.

The drive served as a mobility test that marks just one of many milestones as team members check out and calibrate every system, subsystem, and instrument on Perseverance. Once the rover begins pursuing its science goals, regular commutes extending 656 feet (200 meters) or more are expected.

This image was taken during the first drive of NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars on March 4th, 2021. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter checks in, Operations Normal

February 21, 2021 |

Pasadena, CA – Mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California have received the first status report from the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which landed Feb. 18, 2021, at Jezero Crater attached to the belly of the agency’s NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover.

The downlink, which arrived at 3:30pm PST (5:30pm CST) via a connection through the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, indicates that both the helicopter, which will remain attached to the rover for 30 to 60 days, and its base station (an electrical box on the rover that stores and routes communications between the rotorcraft and Earth) are operating as expected.

In this illustration, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter stands on the Red Planet’s surface as NASA’s Perseverance rover (partially visible on the left) rolls away. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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