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NASA’s Ingenuity Mas Helicopter in an image taken by Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z instrument on April 16. | Supply: NASA/JPL
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has formally accomplished its 52nd flight after dropping communication with mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California for over two months.
The flight initially occurred on April 26, however mission controllers misplaced contact when the helicopter descended towards the Martian floor for touchdown.
The crew wasn’t shocked by the lack of contact, they’d anticipated communications to drop out due to a hill that stood between the helicopter’s touchdown place and the place of the Perseverance rover, which acts as a radio relay between Ingenuity and mission controllers at JPL.
“The portion of Jezero Crater the rover and helicopter are at the moment exploring has loads of rugged terrain, which makes communications dropouts extra probably,” JPL’s Josh Anderson, the Ingenuity crew lead, stated. “The crew’s objective is to maintain Ingenuity forward of Perseverance, which often entails quickly pushing past communication limits. We’re excited to be again in communications vary with Ingenuity and obtain affirmation of Flight 52.”
In anticipation of dropping communications, the Ingenuity crew had already developed re-contact plans for when the rover could be again inside vary. Contact was re-established on June 28 when Perseverance crested the hill between it and Ingenuity and will see the helicopter once more.
Thus far, NASA’s information signifies that each one is properly with Ingenuity. Assuming the remaining well being checks additionally end up properly, Ingenuity may very well be again within the sky throughout the subsequent few weeks.
On its subsequent flight, Ingenuity’s goal is an interim airfield to the west of its present location. As soon as there, the helicopter will carry out one other westward flight to a brand new base of operations close to a rocky outcrop that the Perseverance crew is serious about exploring.
Ingenuity touched down on Mars in April 2021. The helicopter was the primary ever helicopter to be despatched to a different planet. It was despatched as a expertise demonstration to check the primary powered flight on Mars. Whereas the helicopter has been flying sturdy for over two years now, NASA’s crew doesn’t count on it to final ceaselessly.
NASA has been so inspired by Ingenuity’s success that it determined to swap out its Pattern Fetch Rovers for 2 drones, much like the helicopter, to function backups to the Perseverance Rover within the Mars Pattern Return Marketing campaign.