New Mars Forums

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,891

Re: Ingenuity, Scouting Mars by Helicopter

It is hard to believe that Ingenuity, the tiny Mars helicopter that could, will keep flying

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: Ingenuity, Scouting Mars by Helicopter

Ingenuity Update
https://twitter.com/nasajpl/status/1701755876040970279
The MarsHelicopter successfully completed Flight 58 this week, traveling 174 meters at an altitude of 10 meters. The rotorcraft was in the air for 107 seconds.

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,891

Re: Ingenuity, Scouting Mars by Helicopter

It is truly unbelievable that the helicopter is still functioning with solar let alone not crashing into the ground.

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,891

Re: Ingenuity, Scouting Mars by Helicopter

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter breaks altitude record on 59th Mars flight

The 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) Ingenuity aced its 59th Mars sortie on Saturday (Sept. 16), soaring higher than ever before in the process.

"Ingenuity has set a new record! The #MarsHelicopter successfully completed Flight 59, flying its highest altitude yet — 20 meters [66 feet]. The rotorcraft was in the air for 142.59 seconds," officials with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the helicopter's mission, posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday (Sept. 19).

Over the course of its 59 flights, Ingenuity has traveled a total of 43,652 feet (13,304 m) and stayed aloft for 106.5 minutes, according to the flight log.

Before Flight 59, the helicopter's altitude mark stood at 59 feet (18 m). Its single-flight distance and duration records are 2,310 feet (704 m) and 169.5 seconds, set in April 2022 and August 2021, respectively.

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,891

Re: Ingenuity, Scouting Mars by Helicopter

Maverick Mars chopper has survived way past its warranty – now it's time for a sequel

Ingenuity has proven to be far more capable and longer-lasting than called for by its original 30-day mission. The helicopter has flown 66 times and exceeded that original plan by 32 times. Now NASA is at work on its replacement. Engineers have been testing updated carbon fiber rotor blades which have a different design to Ingenuity's, are more than 10 cm (4 inches) longer and considered to be more robust. Current plans call for helicopter involvement in a Mars sample return mission instead of the "fetch" rover initially envisaged.

During September, engineers spun the blades in the space simulator in NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The cylindrical simulator - with a test diameter of 25ft (7.62 meters) and 85ft (25.9 meters) high - was also where Voyager, Cassini, and Surveyor were tested in a space-like environment, which is also ideal for recreating a Mars-type atmosphere on Earth.

"We spun our blades up to 3,500 rpm, which is 750 revolutions per minute faster than the Ingenuity blades have gone," said Tyler Del Sesto, Sample Recovery Helicopter deputy test conductor at JPL. "These more efficient blades are now more than a hypothetical exercise. They are ready to fly."

As such, engineers are pushing the envelope with Ingenuity. Flight 61 set a new altitude record of 24 meters (78.7 feet), and Flight 62 set a speed record of 10 meters per second. However, remote-controlled hot-dogging is only part of the story: Ingenuity was designed to smack into the surface at 1 meters per second (2.2 mph) – a softer landing speed means lighter landing gear could be used. So for flights 57, 58, and 59, controllers demonstrated a landing speed 25 percent slower than what Ingenuity was designed for.

Right now, the sun and earth are blocking a signal being delivered to the helicopter.

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,891

Re: Ingenuity, Scouting Mars by Helicopter

Another record wow, NASA’s Mars helicopter just flew a colossal distance

NASA’s plucky Ingenuity helicopter has just completed its 69th flight on Mars, setting a new distance record in the process.

The 4-pound, 19-inch-tall helicopter flew a colossal 2,315 feet (705 meters) on Wednesday, edging past its previous record of 2,310 feet (704 meters) set in April 2022. That’s like flying nine blocks north from Manhattan’s Times Square to 54th Street.

In another mammoth mission just last week, Ingenuity flew 2,304 feet (702 meters) across the martian surface.

Wednesday’s record-breaking flight in Mars’ super-thin atmosphere took 135.4 seconds to complete and also saw Ingenuity equal its top speed of 22.4 mph — achieved in two previous flights.

Since 4/2021 the aircraft has gone on to fly evermore complex flights, staying in the air for a cumulative total of 125.5 minutes, and covering 10.4 miles (16.7 kilometers) while reaching altitudes of up to 78.7 feet (24 meters).

With each flight we are learning more of how to fly on mars.

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,891

Re: Ingenuity, Scouting Mars by Helicopter

NASA has lost communication with the Ingenuity Mars helicopter

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,891

Re: Ingenuity, Scouting Mars by Helicopter

NASA regains communications with Mars helicopter Ingenuity

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,891

Re: Ingenuity, Scouting Mars by Helicopter

NASA's Mars helicopter finally ends marathon mission logging 72 flights before a hard or tilted landing that damaged one or more rotors forced flight controllers to finally bring the marathon mission to a close.

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,891

Re: Ingenuity, Scouting Mars by Helicopter

Before its demise, NASA's Mars helicopter captured a glorious aerial view

Too far from the rover's communication seems to have been part of the issue.

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,891

Re: Ingenuity, Scouting Mars by Helicopter

The NASA Mars helicopter’s work is not done, it turns out

The Mars helicopter is now in its final resting place on a dune inside Mars’ Jezero Crater. But while most people have been thinking that it’s mission accomplished for the helicopter, it turns out that it’s actually still operating and in touch with its team at JPL.

As per NASA: “The team continues to run vehicle health checks while snapping images of the martian surface. Though we mostly see the sand below us with the color camera, martian scientists can learn about geological processes by having a series of images taken from one spot to see how dust, sand, and rock particles move in response to martian weather and wind.”

It’s not clear how for much longer Ingenuity will be able to operate. Much will depend on the time it takes for martian sand to cover its solar panels. When that happens, as it did it with NASA’s stationary InSight Mars lander in 2022, it will be well and truly game over for the Mars helicopter.

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,267

Re: Ingenuity, Scouting Mars by Helicopter

NASA bids farewell to the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter with new photos
https://www.astronomy.com/space-explora … r-3-years/

Ingenuity helicopter sends last message
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-17/ … /103737592

What's next? Ingenuity will stay on the surface of Mars as a stationary data-gathering unit, the space agency says.

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,891

Re: Ingenuity, Scouting Mars by Helicopter

It outlasted expectations of a first attempt in its design.

Learning from the many lesson's changes can be made to improve the design.

It might make the sample return more likely with a sample retrieval being done by an improved helicopter.