Tag: Martian

NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Comes Back Online on Mars After Communications Glitch

SPACE reports that Ingenuity has officially “regained communication with ground control.” According to a January 20 NASA post, Perseverance “had conducted long-duration listening sessions to help pinpoint Ingenuity’s signal.” Everything “seemed fine during the probe’s 72nd hop on Mars’ red surface, as it successfully climbed to an expected maximum altitude of 40 feet (12 meters) and communicated its ascension status with Perseverance.” But, during descent, NASA said that “communications between the helicopter and rover terminated early, prior to touchdown.”
Full Story (SPACE)

Mars Ingenuity Helicopter Makes 48th Error-Free Flight

SPACE reports that the Ingenuity helicopter “buzzed over the Martian landscape at a maximum altitude of around 39 feet (12 meters), observing potential science targets that could be studied by its robotic partner, NASA’s life-hunting Perseverance rover.” The rotorcraft “traveled at a top speed of 10.4 mph (16.7 kph) during Tuesday’s flight, which covered a horizontal distance of around 1,300 feet (400 meters) and lasted nearly 150 seconds, according to the mission’s flight log.” The helicopter became the first machine to fly in the skies of another planet in 2021, and this marked the 48th flight since then.
Full Story (SPACE)

Mars Ingenuity Helicopter Breaks Speed, Altitude Records

CBS News reports on Sunday, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter based on Mars flew 14.5 miles per hours at an altitude of 52.5 feet, both of which are records that broke the previous highs of 13.4 miles per hour and 46 feet of altitude, respectively. Ingenuity was brought “to Mars by NASA’s Perseverance rover,” and in the past two years, the helicopter “has performed a series of tests and is currently conducting an operations demonstration phase that NASA says ‘looks to explore how future rovers and aerial explorers can work together.’”
Full Story (CBS News)

Ingenuity Makes 29th Flight

CNET News reports that NASA JPL confirmed the Ingenuity helicopter’s 29th flight in a tweet Tuesday, “saying the chopper completed the 66.6-second journey over the weekend, traveling 587 feet (179 meters) across Mars. Ingenuity’s previous flight, No. 28, took place at the end of April.”
Aviation Today (CNET News)

Ingenuity Makes 30th Flight

CNET News reports that NASA “announced Monday that Ingenuity successfully pulled off its 30th flight.” NASA JPL tweeted, “After a two-month hiatus, the rotorcraft did a short hop over the weekend so the team can check its vitals and knock some dust off the solar panel.”
Full Story (CNET News)

Ingenuity Helicopter Experiences Insufficient Battery Charge as Martian Winter Begins

CNN reports that for the first time, “the Ingenuity team on Earth lost contact with Ingenuity on sols 427 and 428, or Martian days that correspond with May 3 and May 4.” The team “discovered that loss of contact occurred because Ingenuity experienced insufficient battery charge as night fell. This reduced voltage reset the mission clock, causing the helicopter’s system to be out of sync with its companion, the Perseverance rover.”
Full Story (CNN)