ingenuityHelicopters have been flying over the Red Planet for almost three years. “/> NASA
The U.S. space agency announced Friday night that communications with Mars had been lost, sparking widespread dismay in the spaceflight community. Originality and ingenuity Helicopter on its last flight on Thursday, January 18th.
“During the planned descent, communications between the helicopter and the spacecraft ended early before landing.” According to the statement From NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. ” Originality and ingenuity The team is analyzing available data and considering next steps to re-establish communication with the helicopter. ”
This seemed like a bad omen for this brave little helicopter. The helicopter landed on Mars in February 2021 and began flying two months later, significantly exceeding its planned lifespan on several test flights. Rather, the communication failure occurred on the 4-pound flying machine’s 72nd flight, the first of its kind on another planet.
But by Saturday, a more hopeful update was released by NASA. On social media site X, the agency said: “Good news today: We re-established contact with #MarsHelicopter after directing @NASAPersevere to conduct an extended listening session for Ingenuity’s signals.”
aging flying machine
Over the weekend, the helicopter flight team began examining data from the helicopter to better understand why there was an unexpected loss of communications during Flight 72. It’s not clear what they will discover, but several health concerns have recently arisen as the helicopter approaches its third year of operation. service.
On its 71st flight, about two weeks ago, the helicopter was scheduled to fly nearly 1,200 feet (358 meters), reach an altitude of 40 feet (12 meters) and stay in the air for nearly 125 seconds. NASA was trying to reposition the helicopter for future flights to explore new areas of Mars’ surface.But during that flight Originality and ingenuity The plane made an unexpected early landing.
thursday flight The flight was intended to be an inspection flight and was scheduled to climb straight up to an altitude of approximately 40 feet and descend to the same location 30 seconds later.with Perseverance The rover will monitor the helicopter and relay data to scientists on Earth. Originality and ingenuity Reached maximum altitude. But after that, communication was cut off. Over the next day, Perseverance Spend more time listening Originality and ingenuitythe helicopter was spotted again.
So what’s happening now? Originality and ingenuity It has survived a lot on Mars, including communication problems, sandstorms, and long winters. It is expected that the program’s scientists and engineers will take the time to diagnose the latest problems and likely conduct further test flights. But the reality is Originality and ingenuity We are probably much closer to the end of the flying era than we are to the beginning. That remarkable story is nearer the end than the beginning.
that’s ok. All good things must come to an end. Even something wonderfully original, like Mars’ first flying machine.
