Posted on 07/03/2023 4:20:50 PM PDT by Ezekiel
The intrepid rotorcraft may head skyward again within the next couple of weeks.
The 52nd flight of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is now in the official mission logbook as a success. The flight took place back on April 26, but mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California lost contact with the helicopter as it descended toward the surface for landing.
Ingenuity Before Flight 52's Landing: NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is seen in shadow in an
image captured by its navigation camera during the rotorcraft’s 52nd flight on April 26. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
The Ingenuity team expected the communications dropout because a hill stood between the helicopter’s landing location and the Perseverance rover’s position, blocking communication between the two. The rover acts as a radio relay between the helicopter and mission controllers at JPL. In anticipation of this loss of communications, the Ingenuity team had already developed re-contact plans for when the rover would drive back within range. Contact was re-established June 28 when Perseverance crested the hill and could see Ingenuity again.
The goal of Flight 52, a 1,191-foot (363-meter) and 139-second-long flight, was to reposition the helicopter and take images of the Martian surface for the rover’s science team.
“The portion of Jezero Crater the rover and helicopter are currently exploring has a lot of rugged terrain, which makes communications dropouts more likely,” said JPL’s Josh Anderson, the Ingenuity team lead. “The team’s goal is to keep Ingenuity ahead of Perseverance, which occasionally involves temporarily pushing beyond communication limits. We’re excited to be back in communications range with Ingenuity and receive confirmation of Flight 52.”
Sixty-three days is a long time to wait for the results of a flight, but the data coming in indicates all is well with the first aircraft on another world. If the remainder of Ingenuity’s health checks are equally rosy, the helicopter may fly again within the next couple of weeks.
The target for Flight 53 is an interim airfield to the west, from which the team plans to perform another westward flight to a new base of operations near a rocky outcrop the Perseverance team is interested in exploring.
More About Ingenuity
The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages the project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity’s development. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm, and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle components. Lockheed Space designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Delivery System.
At NASA Headquarters, Dave Lavery is the program executive for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter.
Presently, the flight log page still only lists up through Flight 51.
Gotta get those "50 year old White uninspiring male" out of NASA:
Serious question: what is the farthest distance this drone has ever flown? How high?
Thanks.
I’m supposed to believe it can “phone home” from 30 million miles away, yet I lose a cell signal at times here on earth.
Farthest flight 1057 feet, highest altitude 59 feet.
This thing had a design life of, what, a dozen flights?
And now 52?!?
I think E.T just wants a refill on Reeces pieces.
.
How many Billions of $$$ did you spend on your cell phone?
LOL
Classic quotes.
Why, oh why, isn’t she already sitting on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States? (After maybe Kamala Harris). 🏛️
Here’s the flight log I linked above. It’s got the “personal bests” at the top:
https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/#Flight-Log
It’s still only up to flight 51, however.
This bounced around the solar system and now came back from Mars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC_mgp6BJtU
"I leave message here on service but you do not call."
~ Dr. Elena Rhyzkov, visiting professor from Czechoslovakia, senior research fellow in astrophysicsFellas, Janek's little black box is on his desk, between the pencil jar and the lamp.
Whistler, I hate to tell you this, but you're blind.
Play the tape back again.
But you can't see anything.
Don't look. Listen.
Play it back.
"I leave message here on service, but you do not..."
He's got a service.
What's he need an answering machine for?
There's our little black box:
I love it when all the shows come together.
I've been recently quoting that movie, too; e.g. regarding the Ark of the Covenant. The part where Janek must have figured out a way.
"So many nooks and crannies, yet"
“The portion of Jezero Crater the rover and helicopter are currently exploring has a lot of rugged terrain, which makes communications dropouts more likely,” said JPL’s Josh Anderson, the Ingenuity team lead.
How did she miss her ride on the Titan?! 🤪
Come on over! 🥳
They should have put a Water Tower up with a Repeater Antenna on the top of it.
She just keeps on whirling and winning!
STATUS UPDATES | July 20, 2023
Flight 53 Preview – By the Numbers
Written by NASA/JPL
Flight 53
Expected Flight date: 07/22/2023
Horizontal flight distance: 666.34 feet (203.1 meters)
Flight time: 136.82 seconds
Flight altitude: 32 feet (10 meters)
Heading: North
Max Flight speed: 5.6 mph (2.5 meters per second)
Goal of flight: 1) Scouting flight
https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/status/471/flight-53-preview-by-the-numbers/
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