Ingenuity helicopters have completed 12 flights on Mars.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, WASHINGTON—Helikopter Ingenuity has become a traveling companion of the Perseverance rover, whose main mission is to search for signs of ancient life on Mars. Ingenuity’s head of mechanical engineering Josh Ravich said everything was working very well.
“We performed better on the surface than we expected,” said Ravich Science Alert, Monday (6/9).
Hundreds of people contributed to the project, although only about a dozen currently maintain the day-to-day role. Ravich joined the team five years ago.
“When I got the chance to work on a helicopter project, I think I had the same reaction as everyone else: ‘Is that possible?’” he said.
His initial doubts were understandable, that is, the air in Mars has a density equivalent to only one percent of Earth’s atmosphere. In comparison, flying a helicopter on Mars would be like flying a helicopter in thin air nearly 30 km above Earth.
It wasn’t easy to get to Mars in the first place. Ingenuity had to withstand the initial shock of takeoff from Earth and then a February 18 landing on the red planet after a seven-month voyage through space.
Once in its new environment, the tiny 1.8 kg helicopter must survive the frigid nights on Mars. This device uses solar panels to charge its battery during the day. Flights are guided using a series of sensors, as a 15-minute delay in communication from Earth makes real-time guidance impossible.
On April 19, Ingenuity made its maiden flight, making history as the first motorized aircraft to fly on another planet. Exceeding all expectations, he has flown 11 more times.
“We were actually able to handle bigger winds than we expected,” Ravich said.
Since then, Ingenuity has flown as high as 12 meters and its final flight lasted two minutes 49 seconds. Overall, the device has covered 1.6 miles. In May, Ingenuity flew its first one-way mission, landing outside the relatively flat “airfield” it had carefully chosen as its initial home.
However, not everything went smoothly. After being knocked off balance dangerously by a malfunction that affected a photo taken in flight to help it stabilize, the Ingenuity was able to recover. The helicopter landed, safe and sound and the problem solved.
Ingenuity is now being sent to find a way for Perseverance, using a high-resolution color camera. The goal is twofold, namely to map out a safe route for explorers, but also one that is scientifically interesting, especially in geological terms.
Ken Farley, who heads the Perseverance science team, explains how photos taken by Ingenuity during its 12th flight showed the region dubbed South Seitha was less attractive than scientists had hoped. As a result, the rover may not be sent there.
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