NASA famous the copter is “safe and healthy” and had despatched info again to Earth
NASA has delayed by a minimum of a number of days the primary flight of its mini-helicopter on Mars after a attainable tech challenge emerged whereas testing its rotors, the U.S. area company stated Saturday.
Ingenuity’s journey, which is to be the first-ever powered, managed flight on one other planet, was set for Sunday however is now on maintain till a minimum of April 14.
A high-speed check of the 1.8 kilogram helicopter’s rotors on Friday ended sooner than anticipated resulting from an alert of a possible challenge.
“The helicopter team is reviewing telemetry to diagnose and understand the issue,” NASA stated in a press release. “Following that, they will reschedule the full-speed test.” NASA famous the copter is “safe and healthy” and had despatched info again to Earth.
Initially the plan for Sunday was to have Ingenuity fly for 30 seconds to take an image of the Perseverance rover, which touched down on Mars on February 18 with the helicopter connected to its underside.
NASA calls the unprecedented helicopter operation extremely dangerous, however says it may reap invaluable knowledge concerning the circumstances on Mars.
The flight is a real problem as a result of the air on Mars is so skinny — lower than one p.c of the stress of Earth’s ambiance. This means Ingenuity should spin its rotor blades a lot sooner than a helicopter must do on Earth with a purpose to fly.
After the flight, Ingenuity will ship Perseverance technical knowledge on what it has achieved, and that info will likely be transmitted again to Earth. This will embrace a black and white photograph of the Martian floor that Ingenuity is programmed to snap whereas flying.
A day later, as soon as its batteries have charged up once more, Ingenuity is to transmit one other photograph — in color, of the Martian horizon, taken with a distinct digital camera.
If the flight is successful, NASA plans one other not more than 4 days later. It plans as many as 5 altogether, every successively tougher, over the course of a month.
NASA hopes to make the helicopter rise 5 meters (16 ft) after which transfer laterally.
The mission is be the equal on Mars of the primary powered flight on Earth — by the Wright brothers in 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. A bit of material from that airplane has been tucked inside Ingenuity in honor of that feat.
