Something on Mars forced the Ingenuity drone to make an emergency landing

2023-08-14 12:45:03

NASA’s Ingenuity robotic helicopter, which has been carrying out flights on Mars since 2021, was unable to normally complete its 53rd flight on July 22. That flight was the first since April and after a period in which communication between the drone and its mission partner, the Perseverance robotic rover, was cut off.

Flight 53 was planned as a 136-second reconnaissance flight dedicated to collecting images of the planet’s surface for the Perseverance science team to help decide the future path of this wheeled, ground-moving robot. The complicated flight profile included flying north 203 meters at an altitude of 5 meters and a speed of 2.5 meters per second, then descending vertically at 2.5 meters, hovering for a few moments over a rocky outcrop in order to photograph it. with details, then ascend up to 10 meters in altitude, and finally start the landing maneuver at the planned point.

Instead, the helicopter executed only the first half of its autonomous journey, flying north at an altitude of 5 meters and up to a distance of 142 meters. Then the Ingenuity activated a program for unforeseen and dangerous situations on its own and landed automatically. Total flight time was 74 seconds.

That program is for making an emergency landing and was designed to bring the helicopter to the surface as soon as possible if it encounters a situation that could cause it to crash.

For now, it is unknown what led Ingenuity to make the decision to abort its mission and land.

Days later, on August 3, Ingenuity successfully completed a new flight, number 54, the first since the troubled flight on July 22. The new flight was intended to gather information that can help the mission’s team of scientists and engineers to clarify why Flight 53 ended early. So far, nothing new has been found.

Photo taken by Ingenuity during its Flight 54 on August 3, 2023, in the area where its previous flight (July 22) ended early for unknown reasons. The photo was taken from an altitude of about 5 meters. In the center of the upper edge, the Perseverance robotic rover is glimpsed. (Photo: NASA JPL/Caltech)

The Ingenuity drone was launched into space along with the Perseverance robotic rover on July 30, 2020. Both robots reached the surface of Mars on February 18, 2021, with Ingenuity strapped to Perseverance’s belly. Then he was released and after some checks he began his aerial activity. The first flight was made on April 19, 2021. Since then, this robotic helicopter has made regular flights most of the time. (Source: NCYT from Amazings)