NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter made history in April 2021 when it became the first powered and controlled flight on another planet, digitaltrend reports.
Because Mars’ atmosphere is so much thinner than Earth’s, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory weren’t sure if they could build a machine capable of lifting the Red Planet, let alone a machine that could fly reliably, but thanks to its long, fast-spinning blades. Ingenuity exceeded expectations as it flew long distances on multiple flights.
Since its first flight, the 4-pound 19-inch helicopter has soared 20 more times, traveling up to 625 meters in one flight, reaching altitudes of up to 12 meters, and blasting off over the surface of Mars at speeds of up to 5 meters per second.
With the innovation showing no signs of mechanical decline, JPL has just announced an extension of the brave helicopter’s flight operations until September, a remarkable development that puts it on the path to “setting more records,” the team said.
JPL recently made several modifications to the Ingenuity flight software that will now allow it to fly higher and also change airspeed in flight. JPL said future software upgrades could include adding terrain altitude maps to the navigation filter and the ability to avoid landing hazards.
Looking ahead, JPL says the new Ingenuity area of operations will be “very different from the relatively modest and flat terrain it has been flying over since its maiden flight last April”.
This means that in the coming months, the aircraft will encounter an ancient river delta at Jezero Crater, using its onboard camera to identify areas of interest that NASA’s Perseverance spacecraft can explore for evidence of past microbial life on the distant planet.
“Several miles wide and shaped by an ancient river, the fan-like delta rises more than 130 feet (40 meters) above the crater floor, filled with jagged cliffs, angled surfaces, jutting boulders, and pockets of sand that could stop a rover,” JPL said. In its tracks (or flips a helicopter upon landing), the delta promises many geological discoveries – and perhaps even the necessary evidence to determine that microscopic life was present on Mars billions of years ago.”
Commenting on Ingenuity’s success, Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said: “Less than a year ago, we didn’t even know if it was possible to fly a powered and controlled plane to Mars, and now we’re looking forward to Ingenuity’s participation in the second science expedition. To persevere such a shift in thinking in such a short period is simply astonishing, and one of the most historic in the annals of air and space exploration.”
However, not all was smooth sailing for ingenuity, with JPL engineers having to solve a number of technical problems facing the drone-like flying machine.
However, overcoming problems from a distance is a testament to Ingenuity’s stunning design, and JPL offers a great deal of hope as it considers more advanced aircraft designs for future Mars missions.