SPACE — After nearly a year of operation, NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity still looks brand new. On Friday, March 11, 2021, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) announced Ingenuity had completed its 21st flight to the red planet. He covered 370 meters in 129 seconds.
Ingenuity serves as a scout for NASA’s rover, Perseverance. The tiny helicopter has now covered a distance of more than 4.6 kilometers since its first flight in April 2021.
Ingenuity was originally developed as a technology demonstration, with initial plans for no more than five flights a month. The good performance of the 1.8 kilogram helicopter, however, led NASA to extend its mission. He is now a scout who checks the condition of the terrain in front of Perseverance.
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The information provided by Ingenuity is claimed to have saved intelligent robots time. “It certainly cuts a few soles, maybe a week off the Perseverance time frame, by having this advanced (Ingenuity) information,” said Matt Golombek, a senior scientist at JPL. briefing on March 8, 2022. The sol is the measure of a day on Mars, about 40 minutes longer than a day on Earth.
Another scientist involved in the Perseverance mission, Justin Simon agrees that Ingenuity is very useful. “I was really impressed with how well it worked and how useful it was,” said the planetary scientist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
Another scientist, Keyron Hickman-Lewis said the helicopter was very helpful when Perseverance determined the terrain to be traversed. That work will continue as the rover robot prepares to head for the remnants of the river delta in the coming weeks.
The helicopter will provide further information that will aid the robot’s exploration, including the paths it can take to the delta and identifying rocks. Perseverance will learn all that information with a series of instruments.
According to Golombek, Ingenuity is showing no signs of wear and tear after nearly a year of flying on Mars. “So far, we have not found any relegation or loss in the helicopter. It’s still as good as new,” he said.
This helicopter that uses solar power also does not have consumables so that its life is not limited. Ingenuity is expected to continue operating until a part breaks. “Nothing is consumable and nothing is stopping us from continuing to operate as long as the helicopter remains healthy,” he said.
Golombek said Ingenuity’s performance shows how useful such helicopters can be in future exploration. Even so, NASA currently has no definite plans for additional helicopter missions.
“Technology demo idea to show a new way of exploring Mars. Ingenuity has shown that this kind of method holds promise for our exploration of the red planet,” he said.
Sumber: Space News
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