While the flight was brief, it was a turning point for a number of reasons. It was the first flight after Mars solar combination, an approximately two-week period of time where the Red Planet lines up behind the Sun from Earths viewpoint, and solar activity wreaks havoc on communications in between the 2 planets.
On September 18, (Sol 206) another quick flight was prepared, however due to the fact that Ingenuity identified an anomaly in 2 of the little flight-control servo motors (or merely “servos”) during its automatic pre-flight checkout, the helicopter did precisely what it was expected to do: It canceled the flight. Then they decided to wait for the next flight till after combination.
Resourcefulness got this image utilizing its navigation video camera, mounted in the helicopters fuselage and pointed straight down to track the ground throughout flight. This image was obtained on Oct. 23, 2021 (Sol 240 of the Perseverance rover objective). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
In addition, as the seasons change on Mars, flight conditions become more difficult. Martian environment frequently thins by about 25% in the winter. To compensate, Ingenuity group has actually been evaluating out greater rotor speeds, and on flight 14, put those higher speeds to the real test.
” The Mars helicopter effectively performed a brief hop in its current airfield to test out greater rpm settings so it can fly in lower climatic densities on the Red Planet,” JPL tweeted. “This test also leaves the team room for an rpm increase if required for future flights.”.
The Resourcefulness Mars Helicopter took a brief hop flight on October 24, offering the objective team both a sigh of relief and an anticipatory appearance to future flights. This 14th flight of Resourcefulnesss mission was a brief 23-second hover, with a peak altitude of 16 feet (5 meters) above ground level, with a little sideways translation of 7 feet (2 meters) to prevent a nearby sand ripple.
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In the Ingenuity blog site, staff member composed that the flight showed “that Ingenuity is capable of flying in the months and weeks ahead on Mars, during which seasonal modifications on the surface will result in decreases in air density.” This was also the very first time Ingenuity tape-recorded black-and-white navigation video camera images at the high-rate of about seven frames a second.
Well keep you posted on Ginnys next flight and how the helicopter might continue to search ahead for the Perseverance rover. Keep tabs on Ingenuity at this site, and Perseverance here.
Ingenuitys parts and equipment. Credit: NASA/JPL.
This camera is mounted in the helicopters fuselage and pointed directly downward to track the ground during flight. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
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It was the very first flight after Mars solar conjunction, a roughly two-week duration of time where the Red Planet lines up behind the Sun from Earths perspective, and solar activity wreaks havoc on communications between the 2 worlds. On September 18, (Sol 206) another quick flight was prepared, but since Ingenuity identified an abnormality in 2 of the little flight-control servo motors (or merely “servos”) during its automatic pre-flight checkout, the helicopter did precisely what it was expected to do: It canceled the flight. Furthermore, as the seasons change on Mars, flight conditions become more tough. To compensate, Ingenuity team has actually been evaluating out higher rotor speeds, and on flight 14, put those higher speeds to the true test.
“This test likewise leaves the team room for an rpm increase if required for future flights.”.
? Flight No. 14The #MarsHelicopter successfully performed a brief hop in its existing airfield to evaluate out higher rpm settings so it can fly in lower atmospheric densities on the Red Planet. If needed for future flights, this test also leaves the group space for an rpm boost. pic.twitter.com/bYCMgnrTyz— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) October 25, 2021.