WASHINGTON — After nearly a year of operation, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter is still “as good as new” because it serves as a rover for tenacious explorers.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced on March 11 that Ingenuity had completed its 21st flight on the planet, covering 370 meters during a flight of 129 seconds. The helicopter has now covered a distance of more than 4.6 kilometers since its maiden flight in April 2021.
Creativity was developed as a testament to technology, with the initial plan being no more than five trips a month. However, the performance of the star’s 1.8 kilogram propeller led NASA to expand its mission, using it as a rangefinder to examine the terrain ahead of the persistent rover that brought creativity to Mars.
The information provided by his ingenuity does save time on persistence. Matt Golombek, a senior researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory who participated in the Mars Lander from Mars Pathfinder, said during a March 8 briefing at the Planetary and Lunar Science Conference. Sol day is a Martian day, about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day.
Other scholars agree with persistence that creativity is beneficial. “I was really impressed with how well it worked and how useful it was,” Justin Simon, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center who worked on the Perseverance mission, said during a conference session on March 7. That’s totally to be expected, at least on my own. ”
Another Diligence scholar, Keyron Hickman-Lewis of the British Museum of Natural History, told a conference session that creativity comes in handy when Perseverance is negotiating an area called Séítah. “The terrain is not ideal for explorers,” he said of the area. “These ideas are invaluable.”
This work will continue as head of persistence in the coming weeks to the rest of the River Delta. “The aim is to keep the helicopter away from the rover to provide further information that will aid in its exploration,” Golombek said. This includes exploration paths that a rover can take in the delta and identifying rocks for the rover to study with its toolkit.
Creativity itself is showing no signs of wear and tear after nearly a year of flying on Mars. So far, we have not found any damage or loss on board the helicopter. It’s good as new.
This solar-powered helicopter also has no consumables to limit its lifespan. “Nothing is running out and nothing is stopping us from continuing to operate as long as the helicopters remain in good health,” he said, hoping to continue to be creative in operations until one finally breaks down.
This performance is noteworthy, he adds, due to the use of commercial parts that have been prequalified for space on Ingenuity, rather than custom components. “It is remarkable that we did not suffer any damage or loss in any aspect of the helicopter,” he said.
Golombek said Ingenuity’s performance demonstrates how useful the helicopter can be for future exploration, although NASA currently has no confirmed plans for additional helicopter missions. “The idea of this technology demo is to prove that this is a new way to explore Mars,” he said. “Creativity has shown promise in this way to continue our exploration of the Red Planet.”
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