Spaceflight Now reports, “NASA engineers are prepping the miniature Mars helicopter Ingenuity for its 53rd flight across the surface of the Red Planet after re-establishing contact following a two-month radio blackout.” The disruption “was due to a Martian hill blocking line-of-sight communications with the Perseverance rover – which acts as a conduit between the helicopter and ground controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Tag: Contact
NASA Reestablishes Contact with InSight Lander
CNET News reports that NASA’s InSight lander “went into safe mode – a mode designed to protect the lander – on Jan. 7 after a dust storm reduced sunlight to the solar-powered machine.” NASA JPL said Tuesday, “The mission’s team reestablished contact with InSight Jan. 10, finding that its power was holding steady and, while low, was unlikely to be draining the lander’s batteries.”
Full Story (CNET News)