NASA’s Mars Ingenuity chopper 'phones home' after 63 days of dead silence
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NASA's Mars Ingenuity chopper has re-established communication with the ground-based mission control team after 63 days of dead silence.
According to a NASA release, the helicopter called home on June 28 with the assistance of its robotic buddy, the Perseverance rover.
On April 26, the team lost contact with Ingenuity as it descended toward the surface of Jezero Crater for landing during its 52nd flight. The new data acquired by mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory(JPL) confirmed the flight's success.
“The portion of Jezero Crater the rover and helicopter are currently exploring has a lot of rugged terrain, which makes communications dropouts more likely,” Josh Anderson, the Ingenuity team lead at the JPL, said in a statement.
Anderson added: “The team’s goal is to keep Ingenuity ahead of Perseverance, which occasionally involves temporarily pushing beyond communication limits. We’re excited to be back in communications range with Ingenuity and receive confirmation of Flight 52.”
On its 52nd flight, Ingenuity soared 1,191 feet (363 meters) above the Martian surface for 139 seconds. The primary purpose was to reposition the helicopter and capture photos of the Martian landscape for scientific research.
Such communication dropouts are expected
According to NASA, such communication lapses between the chopper and the ground-based team are to be expected.
Perseverance handles all communications from Ingenuity to the ground team.
The helicopter's landing site was separated from the rover's location by a hill, resulting in the dropout this time. This effectively halted the radio relay connection between the rover and the aircraft. As a result, the rover was unable to give mission controllers an update on the condition of the helicopter.
Communication was restored when the Perseverance rover climbed the hill to check on Ingenuity.
Onward and forward with Flight 53
The mission team is now gearing for Flight 53 to the west, which is expected to take place in the coming weeks.
“The target for Flight 53 is an interim airfield to the west, from which the team plans to perform another westward flight to a new base of operations near a rocky outcrop the Perseverance team is interested in exploring,” NASA added.
Another similar communication blackout occurred in early April when the helicopter stayed quiet for six days.
Launched as a technological demonstration, the Ingenuity helicopter weighing four pounds (1.8 kilos) was intended to explore the performance of helicopters in Mars' atmosphere. The challenge lies in the thinness of the Martian atmosphere, making helicopter flight a challenging endeavor when compared to Earth.
Initially, Ingenuity engineers hypothesized that the aircraft would only be able to fly five flights. Surprisingly, it outperformed the initial mission goals and demonstrated that aerial exploration on Mars is possible. Currently, Ingenuity primarily serves as a scouting tool for Martian exploration, aiding in the exploration of the rover.
Its success has paved the way for the creation of more advanced robotic helicopters to better examine Mars' surface and atmospheric conditions.
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