Good news for the hardy little Mars helicopter Ingenuity, which has braved the Martian winter thus far and will soon be getting back into the air.
The helicopter has been taking a break from flight since July as it deals with cold seasonal temperatures and increasing dust in the atmosphere, which limited its ability to recharge its battery. Temperatures are still low in the Jezero Crater, going down to as low as -124 degrees Fahrenheit at night, but the Ingenuity team is now planning a short hop for the upcoming Flight 30.
Ingenuity hasn’t flown since Flight 29 on June 11, so the team has performed some checks to ensure everything is still working as required. These included a low-rpm spin of the helicopter’s rotors on August 6, and a high-rpm spin on August 15. The helicopter stayed on the surface but spun up its rotors to similar speeds to those used in an actual flight, and data from the tests looked good.
So it’s on the the next flight, as described by Ingenuity team lead Teddy Tzanetos in a blog post: “This 30th sortie will be a short hop – which will check out our system’s health after surviving 101 sols of winter, collect landing delivery data in support of NASA’s Mars Sample Return Campaign, and potentially clear off dust that has settled on our solar panel since Flight 29.”
In Flight 30, Ingenuity will be in the air for around 30 seconds, rising to an altitude of 16.5 feet and making a sideways trip of just 7 feet before landing. That’s because the purpose of the flight is more to check whether the helicopter can still land accurately than to actually go anywhere. Once this is confirmed, the helicopter can get back to longer flights like heading along the Jezero delta where the Perseverance rover is currently exploring.
“We intend to continue our flight path toward the river delta in the coming weeks while the environment continues to improve,” Tzanetos writes. “With higher battery states of charge will come longer flights, and eventually Ingenuity will be able to power its internal heaters overnight, which will stop its electronics from freezing in the Martian cold each evening.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Texans’ Jonathan Greenard: ‘Look good, feel good, play good’“Football is mental,” HoustonTexans jongreenard7 said. “You have to be able to use film study and know what they’re going to do. That’s how you win as a pass rusher. You have to use your head, hands, and feet all working together.” AaronWilson_NFL
Read more »
2022’s Mars In Gemini Brings Confusion and PossibilityMars transits Gemini for seven months — here's how to make the most of it.
Read more »
Beware Of Petty Gossip While Mars Is In GeminiThis rambunctious, tell-me-what-you're-really-thinking energy is here for the long haul.
Read more »
Plasma reactors could create oxygen on MarsLast year, NASA created a microwave-size device attached to the Perseverance rover that converted carbon dioxide into 10 minutes of breathable oxygen. Now, physicists say they’ve come up with a way to create more oxygen, potentially in a smaller package.
Read more »
Mars Astronauts Would Get Horrifying Dose of Radiation, Study FindsAccording to a new study, astronauts who board a crewed mission to Mars will likely face devastating levels of radiation.
Read more »
A month on 'Mars': Trekking across the ArcticBeing in an environment such as a simulated Martian landscape in the Arctic magnifies what would normally be small problems.
Read more »