Scouting Mars by Helicopter

SpaceNut · 2022-06-19 07:16:28

With all the wind in the Jezero Crater I am surprised that the helicopter is even flying....

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Captures Video of Record Flight

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s black-and-white navigation camera has provided dramatic video of its record-breaking 25th flight, which took place on April 8. Covering a distance of 2,310 feet (704 meters) at a speed of 12 mph (5.5 meters per second), it was the Red Planet rotorcraft’s longest and fastest flight to date. (Ingenuity is currently preparing for its 29th flight.)
“For our record-breaking flight, Ingenuity’s downward-looking navigation camera provided us with a breathtaking sense of what it would feel like gliding 33 feet above the surface of Mars at 12 miles per hour,” said Ingenuity team lead Teddy Tzanetos of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
The first frame of the video clip begins about one second into the flight. After reaching an altitude of 33 feet (10 meters), the helicopter heads southwest, accelerating to its maximum speed in less than three seconds. The rotorcraft first flies over a group of sand ripples then, about halfway through the video, several rock fields. Finally, relatively flat and featureless terrain appears below, providing a good landing spot. The video of the 161.3-second flight was speeded up approximately five times, reducing it to less than 35 seconds.

SpaceNut · 2022-07-16 14:36:09

To safe guard a mission that has shown so much value NASA just grounded one of its most important Mars missions as the planet’s atmosphere has become increasingly dusty. The dust has been a terribly inconvenient factor in our study of the Martian surface.

SpaceNut · 2022-08-25 19:53:03

Mars_B4_Moon wrote:

NASA Mars Helicopter Pulls Off a Tiny Flight, Proves It's Still Airworthy After Vacation
https://www.cnet.com/science/space/nasa … reddit.com

With winter they did want to allow for charge to keep the helicopter alive until next spring, but dust build up meant dropping power to the battery which in time would cause it to freeze.

SpaceNut · 2022-09-01 21:23:18

Mars_B4_Moon wrote:

NASA Gives a Detailed Analysis of all the Landing Debris Perseverance Has Found on Mars
https://www.universetoday.com/157400/na … d-on-mars/
Images of EDL Debris
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/ … dl-debris/
Written by Justin Maki, Imaging Scientist and Mastcam-Z Deputy Principal Investigator at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Ingenuity, nicknamed Ginny, is a small robotic coaxial rotor helicopter operating on Mars as part of NASA's Mars 2020 mission along with the Perseverance rover,
Ingenuity Helicopter Marks 30 Flights on Mars
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/339 … ts-on-mars

tahanson43206 · 2022-09-15 06:34:52

Ingenuity - update from flight of September 6th 2022

Nasa's Ingenuity Helicopter Completes its 31st Flight on the 6th Of Sep 2022. 188 Raw images have been compiled as a video. Credits - NASA
youtu.be/I0kwjX...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0kwjXWitbE

(th)

SpaceNut · 2022-09-15 17:50:45

That is excellent news as Nasa wants to land even more of these on Mars.

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-10-02 16:00:28

Foreign Object Debris Seen During Helicopter's 33rd Flight

https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helico … rd-flight/

'NASA Mars Helicopter Takes Flight With Weird Debris on Its Foot'

https://www.cnet.com/science/space/nasa … -its-foot/

SpaceNut · 2022-10-02 16:39:37

It looks like a cloth possibly from the parachute that is seen in the camera images until it drops off.

tahanson43206 · 2022-10-02 16:45:32

For SpaceNut re #158 .... There is a possibility the bit of cloth may have been from the original Wright Flyer ... As I understand the situation, a bit of cloth from the flyer was affixed to the helicopter. At this point, that is no more than a suggestion of a possibility. Hopefully everyone will be watching for further (more definitive) reports.

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tahanson43206 · 2022-10-27 17:48:52

For SpaceNut .... rather than create a new topic, I decided to offer this story here. The development is on Earth, for Earth customers, and due to the low mass of Mars air, I don't expect this machine will work on Mars, but it ** does ** appear to show potential.

https://evtol.news/news/composite-fx-re … helicopter

There may be a more recent update on this EV helicopter for Earth customers.

02 Aug 2022 10:34 AM 0
Composite-FX Reveals Electric XE-Volt Mosquito Helicopter
By Kenneth I. Swartz
Composite-FX (CFX) revealed a battery-electric version of its popular XE Mosquito helicopter at EAA AirVenture four days after it made its first flight at the company factory in Trenton, Florida, on July 21, 2022.
“We have been wanting to build an electric helicopter for years in order to see how our drive train would work with an electric motor,” said CFX general manager Norbert Richter. “One of the challenges with helicopters is having the right amount of torque at the right engine RPM and weight.”
Work on the project began in January 2022, and all the components were received by early July. Assembly took a couple of weeks and the aircraft made first hover at eight in the evening on July 21. It made five subsequent short flights before CFX loaded the aircraft on a trailer for the 1,400-mile (2353-km) road trip to Oshkosh.
Richter said the XE-Volt aircraft displayed at Oshkosh was the first step in the development of a hybrid-electric helicopter that could meet the requirements of its drone customers who are seeking greater endurance and less weight.
Composite FX first flew its electric XE-Volt on July 21, 2022 before trucking the proof of concept helicopter to Oshkosh for display
CFX currently produces four models of XE helicopters, with around 400 sold as kits to owner-pilots and about 50 sold as drones to commercial and unnamed government and military customers.
The portfolio includes the Part 103 ultralight class float-equipped XEL and heavier XE powered by a 64 hp (48 kW) Zanzottera MZ MZ 202 two-cylinder, in-line two stroke motor; the XE 290 powered by a 90 hp (67 kW) water cooled, oil injected, fuel injected, electronic programmable ignition CFX 800 engine; and the XET powered by a modified 95 hp (71 kW) T62-T2A Solar turbine engine.
The helicopter company was established in 2004 when Dwight Junkin teamed up with John Uptigrove of Alberta, Canada, to develop enclosed cockpit versions of Uptigrove’s open frame Mosquito (later Mosquito Air) ultralight helicopter.

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SpaceNut · 2022-11-25 12:34:18

Sort of a wake-up flight as its been sleep throughout most of the mars winter. Ingenuity takes shortest flight in Martian aviation history

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter recently completed a “short but significant” flight lasting a mere 18 seconds — 13 seconds shorter than its debut flight on the red planet in April 2021. Ingenuity’s shortest flight took place on November 23 and was the aircraft’s 34th to date. Its longest flight up to now lasted 169.5 seconds during a mission in August 2021.
Despite the brief nature of the flight, the success of the short hover just 16 feet off the ground successfully tested two new and important capabilities for the helicopter: hazard avoidance when landing, and the use of digital elevation maps to aid navigation.
“Ingenuity was developed as a technology demonstration and designed to operate on Mars in flat, smooth terrain,”

Software updates should bring more capability to avoid rocky landing fields.

Steve Stewart · 2023-01-07 19:28:46

Linux Unplugged: Mars Goes to Shell

In May of 2021 a podcast from "Linux Unplugged" featured Tim Canham, who is the Mars Helicopter Operations Lead at JPL. Apparently Ingenuity runs on Linux. When asked how Ingenuity communicates with Perseverance Tim replied they use a "Zigbee radio". (A radio commonly used for home networks/automation -- turn lights on/off, security systems, IOT - Internet of Things). He said Ingenuity communicates with a payload on Perseverance called a "Base Station". The base station then communicates with Perseverance using a "UART on steroids". (UART chips were used in early PC's to control serial ports. 2400, 4800, 9600 baud). Perseverance then communicates with a spacecraft overhead that sends data to Earth.

They used the Linux equivalent of "ZIP" and "UNZIP" to compress data sent to Earth, saving 20-45 minutes on each leg of data transfer. He also mentioned they got more power than expected from the solar panel allowing Ingenuity to fly longer than planned. The interview with Tim is about an hour long.

Tim Canham JPL

Zigbee - Wikipedia

tahanson43206 · 2023-01-07 19:45:16

For Steve Stewart re #162

I am delighted to have your report to share with members of the local Linux User Group on the third Tuesday.

I had no idea of the nature of the software that might have been used for the helicopter (or anything else in Perseverance).

SearchTerm:Linux in Ingenuity on Mars

(th)

SpaceNut · 2023-01-20 21:03:34

It is unbelievable that It keeps going and going: NASA's Mars helicopter makes 40th flight

According to NASA, Ingenuity completed its 40th flight on Friday, flying up to 33 feet and traveling a distance of 561 feet. Heading northwest at 7.2 mph, the helicopter was repositioned from Airfield Zeta to Airfield Beta.

SpaceNut · 2023-03-18 12:45:52

Updating topic with posts made by

Mars_B4_Moon wrote:

NASA’s Mars helicopter aces longest flight in almost a year
https://www.digitaltrends.com/news/nasa … st-a-year/
Lot's talk of Balloons and Spying making the news
and also I think I might bump. Just in case someone finds some interesting articles.
Goodyear vid Wingfoot One blimp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkH9CEBUrIE
USS Macon (ZRS-5) was a rigid airship built and operated by the United States Navy for scouting and served as a "flying aircraft carrier", designed to carry biplane parasite aircraft, five single-seat Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk for scouting or two-seat Fleet N2Y-1 for training.
https://archive.fo/avtwD
USS Los Angeles (ZR-3) - German-built as LZ 126, served 1924-39 decommissioned 1932, and dismantled 1940
https://web.archive.org/web/20090207202 … os-angeles
The American Blimp MZ-3A is a blimp owned by the United States Navy from 2006 to 2017. It is a modified American Blimp Corporation A-170 series commercial blimp and given the USN type/model/series (T/M/S) designation MZ-3A and Bureau Number (BuNo) 167811. After delivery to the Navy, the airship began operations as an advanced flying laboratory used to evaluate affordable sensor payloads, the development of new lighter-than-air (LTA) technologies and general flight support for other related research and development/science and technology (R&D/S&T) projects. It was the last airship to be operated by the U. S. military.
https://web.archive.org/web/20070419124 … id=4861240
Perseverance Watches Carefully as Ingenuity Lifts Off for its 47th Flight
https://www.universetoday.com/160585/pe … th-flight/

SpaceNut · 2023-04-05 19:41:23

Helicopter breaks record for speed and altitude on Mars

The helicopter on Sunday flew 14.5 miles per hour, beating its previous record of 13.4 miles per hour, and hit an altitude of 52.5 feet, outperforming its previous top height of 46 feet. The data from Ingenuity, which has flown 49 flights and been on Mars since February 2021, was shared online by NASA in a flight log.

Steve Stewart · 2023-04-07 12:14:47

This is a recent YouTube video about Ingenuity and Perseverance.

15 Months On Mars: Ingenuity Finds Eerie Spacecraft Wreckage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TGH3--21_g

tahanson43206 · 2023-04-07 20:16:18

For Steve Stewart re #167

Thanks for that interesting and nicely paced video ... It was good to see Ingenuity come back to life ... that must have been a stressful time for the ground team, as the "goodbye" letter shows.

(th)

Steve Stewart · 2023-04-23 04:49:19

Ingenuity just completed its 50th flight.

NASA Was Hoping for 5 Helicopter Flights on Mars. Ingenuity Just Completed its 50th!

From NASA.gov (with video)
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Completes 50th Flight

New Mars Forums

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#151 2022-06-19 07:16:28

Re: Scouting Mars by Helicopter

#152 2022-07-16 14:36:09

Re: Scouting Mars by Helicopter

#153 2022-08-25 19:53:03

Re: Scouting Mars by Helicopter

#154 2022-09-01 21:23:18

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#155 2022-09-15 06:34:52

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#156 2022-09-15 17:50:45

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#157 2022-10-02 16:00:28

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#158 2022-10-02 16:39:37

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#159 2022-10-02 16:45:32

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#160 2022-10-27 17:48:52

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#161 2022-11-25 12:34:18

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#162 2023-01-07 19:28:46

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#163 2023-01-07 19:45:16

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#164 2023-01-20 21:03:34

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#165 2023-03-18 12:45:52

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#166 2023-04-05 19:41:23

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#167 2023-04-07 12:14:47

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#168 2023-04-07 20:16:18

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#169 2023-04-23 04:49:19

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