The Ingenuity team assembled for the last time on Tuesday, April 16, to oversee the Mars helicopter’s final transmission.
NASA / JPL-Caltech / LANL / CNES / CNRSThe Ingenuity team assembled for the last time on Tuesday, April 16, to oversee the helicopter’s final transmission.NASA's Mars Ingenuity helicopter breaks records once again
That “something to give” refers to the fact that Ingenuity is still capable of collecting scientific data. In other words, though the Ingenuity chopper won’t fly again, it will still live on as a stationary science payload and time capsule on Mars. This allowed Ingenuity to explore the Jezero Crater, the ancient lakebed where the Perseverance rover is looking for signs of microbial alien life., for example, is expected to launch in 2028. It will send a rotorcraft to explore Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, which features methane oceans and lakes on its surface.During the Ingenuity team’s final meeting, the team reviewed the helicopter’s final transmission back to Earth.
“The telemetry confirmed that a software update previously beamed up to Ingenuity was operating as expected,” NASA officials wrote in their statement. “The new software contains commands that direct the helicopter to continue collecting data well after communications with the rover have ceased.”
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.
NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter team says goodbye—for nowThe final downlink shift by the Ingenuity team was a time to reflect on a highly successful mission—and to prepare the first aircraft on another world for its new role.
Read more »
Life after Ingenuity: How scientists hope to reach the skies of Mars once moreKeith Cooper is a freelance science journalist and editor in the United Kingdom, and has a degree in physics and astrophysics from the University of Manchester.
Read more »
Ingenuity team says goodbye to pioneering Mars helicopterMichael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, 'Out There,' was published on Nov. 13, 2018.
Read more »
Final communications sent to the beloved Ingenuity Mars helicopterNASA's hugely successful Mars helicopter Ingenuity will continue saving data in case future explorers should come its way again.
Read more »
How NASA Keeps Ingenuity Going After More than 50 FlightsSpace and astronomy news
Read more »
The Mars science helicopter could be an airborne geologist on MarsAfter more than 70 successful flights, a broken rotor ended the remarkable and groundbreaking Ingenuity helicopter mission on Mars. Now, NASA is considering how a larger, more capable helicopter could be an airborne geologist on the Red Planet.
Read more »