About a week ago we wrote regarding the 46th flight successfully executed by NASA ingenuity on the Martian surface. An extraordinary achievement that far exceeds initial expectations, given the relatively low cost of the device. drone (regarding 85 million dollars) and the fact that it is also the first device to take off from the surface of another planet. Until the first tests, scientists did not know if everything would go as planned, believing that the mission would be successful in the fifth flight.
The website small helicopter managed to exceed initial expectations, however, reaching its 46th flight (ready for the next ones). The website drone also successfully survived the Martian winter, which was far from a foregone conclusion given the various battery management issues when sandstorms obscured the Sun. Software updates and other tricks, however, have allowed engineers to go beyond their original goals and become an important tool for Mars exploration and to aid NASA’s (much more expensive) Perseverant.
NASA rover perseverance NASA drone photographs Ingenuity
As indicated previously, the rover approached the drone During the last few soils we continued to explore the delta of the river which once filled the Atlantic region. Jezero Crater of water. This very area is important because it is most likely to find fossil microbial lifeforms dating back millions of years. Recall that the main mission is Perseverance, which is the device that must be most protected from problems.
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Nevertheless NASA ingenuity can still provide useful information to the latter thanks to its ability to fly up to 12 meters in altitude, taking even more detailed panoramic photographs than HiRISE. For example, the rover is unlikely to venture into sandy areas and it is precisely the drone that can help locate and avoid them.
Currently, the rover and the drone are a hundred meters apart, which allows the first to capture new images thanks to the power of the device. Mastcam-Z cameras. As has been written on other occasions, these are not the first images of this type, but compared to Navcams, they are more detailed photographs with greater optical magnification.
Perseverance presents two Mastcam-Z (right and left) located at the bottom of the image of the ” head “ of the rover. Curiosity also has similar cameras, but thanks to technological advancements, some aspects have been improved. The two cameras have a mass of 4 kg each. The maximum resolution is 1600 x 1200 pixels. In the pictures you can see NASA ingenuity on the surface of Mars following its 46th flight. Thanks to the magnification, one can see details such as the rotors, the solar panels and the lower supports. The body, covered with an insulating material, is on the other hand quite luminous during the Martian day.
We also report the final data from the study 46th flight par NASA ingenuity. According to flight log official, the theft took place during the 717th sol (February 25). The horizontal distance covered was 445 meters with a maximum altitude of 12 meters. The maximum speed reached 5.3 m/s with a total duration of 135.9″. He then flew from Eta airfield to Theta airfield.
