March 28, 2024

NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Spots Foreign Object Debris on Mars

Video from the Mars helicopters navigation cam reveals a little piece of foreign things debris (FOD).
Throughout a portion of the Ingenuity Mars helicopters 33rd flight, a small piece of foreign object particles (FOD) was seen in video footage (see video below) from the Mars helicopters navigation video camera (Navcam).

The FOD is seen in Flight 33 Navcam images from the earliest frames to around halfway through the video, when it fell from the leg and wandered back to the Mars surface. All telemetry from the flight and a post-flight search and transfer are nominal and reveal no sign of automobile damage.

NASAs Ingenuity Mars Helicopter acquired this image using its navigation video camera. This cam is installed in the helicopters fuselage and pointed straight down to track the ground throughout flight. This image was acquired on November 6, 2021 (Sol 254 of the Perseverance rover objective) at the regional mean solar time of 12:06:00. This was the date of Ingenuitys 15th flight. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Navigation Camera Imagery of Ingenuitys Flight 33: A small piece of foreign object debris (FOD) is seen in this video from the navigation cam of NASAs Ingenuity Mars Helicopter during its 33rd flight on Mars on September 24, 2022. The FOD is seen connected to one of the rotorcrafts landing legs (upper right part of image), then wandering away. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Flight 33 Preview– By the Numbers

This cam is installed in the helicopters fuselage and pointed straight downward to track the ground throughout flight. The FOD is seen in Flight 33 Navcam imagery from the earliest frames to around midway through the video, when it fell from the leg and wandered back to the Mars surface. All telemetry from the flight and a post-flight search and transfer are small and reveal no sign of automobile damage. Navigation Camera Imagery of Ingenuitys Flight 33: A little piece of foreign object debris (FOD) is seen in this video from the navigation camera of NASAs Ingenuity Mars Helicopter throughout its 33rd flight on Mars on September 24, 2022.

Flight number– 33
No earlier than Sol 567, Saturday, Sept. 24
Heading– West
Max Altitude– 33 feet (10 meters).
Expected Distance– ~ 365 feet (111.238 meters).
Anticipated Airspeed– 10.6 miles per hour (4.75 m/s).
Expected Time Aloft– 55.61 seconds.
Goal of Flight: Reposition of the helicopter.

By NASA/JPL
October 2, 2022