NASA (NASA) announced on April 6, “Innovation” (Ingenuity) mini-helicopter, successfully spent the first night on Mars -90 ℃.
NASA announced on April 6 that the Ingenuity mini-helicopter has successfully landed on Mars and spent its first night at -90 degrees Celsius. Next, it will be challenged to fly missions on Mars.
“Ingenuity is the first helicopter on Mars, weighing only 1.8 kg. It cost $80 million and took three years to build. At its heart is a microcomputer designed to run custom software and process the vast amount of images and data captured by its cameras and sensors.
The Innovation looks like a mini helicopter, but it cannot fly on Earth; it was designed specifically for conditions on Mars. It was originally fixed to the belly of the Mars Exploration Rover “Perseverance” and landed on Mars together on Feb. 18.
On April 5, Innovation was lowered from the belly of Trailblazer and successfully landed on the surface of Mars.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory tweeted: “Mars Helicopter landing confirmed! Ending its 471 million kilometer voyage following this Mars Exploration Rover.”
The tweet was accompanied by a photo showing Perseverance moving away from the landed Innovation and its “airport,” and that Innovation’s next challenge will be to make it through its first night on Mars unscathed.
Come fly with us. #MarsHelicopter is preparing to do something that’s never been done: controlled, powered flight on another planet. Takeoff is now slated for no earlier than April 11, with data arriving on Earth on April 12. https://t.co/ TNCdXWcKWE pic.twitter.com/JSep5lcKhR
- NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) April 1, 2021
“Innovation, which previously relied on Trailblazer’s power system for insulation, must now use its own batteries to run vital heaters to protect on-board parts from freezing and breaking on cold Martian nights.
In the “Innovation” landing site, the lowest night temperatures can reach -90 degrees Celsius, it is critical that it can spend the first night alone on Mars.
NASA announced on June 6 that Innovation had successfully survived the cold first night, an important milestone.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said, “We confirmed that we have the right insulation, the right heaters and enough energy in the batteries to withstand the cold nights on Mars.”
Next, Innovation will take on the challenge of flying on Mars, where it will be the first helicopter to fly on a planet before Earth.
The Martian atmosphere is only 1 percent as dense as Earth’s, making it more difficult for the helicopter to take off, but Mars’ gravity is only 1/3 that of Earth’s, which helps make it less difficult for the Innovation to lift off.
The first flight of “Innovation” will not be earlier than April 11, it will climb 3 meters at a speed of 1 meter per second, hovering in the air for 30 seconds before descending back to the surface of Mars. The helicopter will take high-resolution photos during the flight, and NASA plans to conduct five missions in 30 days, and gradually increase the difficulty.
“Innovation’s landing legs are so flexible that they won’t break if they bounce when they hit the ground. Many of the components used in the helicopter (such as the motor) have been miniaturized to meet weight limits.
The Mars helicopter will combine commands for each flight with data from sensors and onboard cameras that can take 30 images per second, telling the helicopter where it is going, how fast it is going, and adjusting for conditions such as wind speed and other hazards.
Tim Canham, head of NASA’s Innovation helicopter operations team, has said, “We’ve never flown an aircraft on another planet before.”
Canham said, “We go through ’90 seconds of fear’ every time we make a flight attempt, because once we give the command in the morning that says ‘take off,’ it means we give a whole bunch of commands and then we just have to watch and never be able to do anything about it again.”
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