According to the news of the Universe Today site, the communication of the reconnaissance helicopter on Mars was lost. The mission control center at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory lost communication with the Mars reconnaissance helicopter Ingenutiy last week.
Officials said communications have been re-established but it will be increasingly difficult to recharge the helicopter’s batteries.
The control team stated that the increase in the amount of dust in the Martian atmosphere and the decrease in temperatures adversely affected the circuits of the helicopter.
“WE ALWAYS KNOW”
Teddy Tzantenos, Ingenuity Team Leader, said, “We always knew that the winter season and the amount of dust on Mars would present new challenges for Ingenuity.” said.
Tzantenos said, “Our priority is to keep in touch with Ingenuity in the coming period, but even if we do, we know that we will face significant challenges in the future. Aside from the incredible achievements of the helicopter, I am proud of our team’s performance over the past year. We hope that we can save the battery charge to continue our mission in the coming weeks.” he said.
When the team lost contact with the helicopter, they decided to suspend Perseverance’s ongoing science activities for a day to listen for calls from Ingenuity.
The Perseverance rover, built at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and powered by plutonium fuel, landed on Mars on February 18, 2021, 7 months after launching on July 30, 2020.
For the realization of Perseverance’s new mission on the Red Planet, which has the most advanced technological features among the vehicles sent to Mars, 2.4 billion dollars was spent on infrastructure works, and 300 million dollars was spent on the system that makes it possible to land and operate the vehicle.
The 1.8 kilogram mini helicopter Ingenuity, which was sent with Perseverance, made history as “the first aircraft to be flown on another planet” with its first successful 1-minute flight on April 19, 2021.
Because the density of the atmosphere on Mars is about 1 percent that of Earth, NASA engineers used ultralight materials and four 123-centimetre-long propellers, each 123 centimeters long, to lift Ingenuity off the ground. (AA)