Nasa helicopter on mars12/27/2023 ![]() The craft is part of a technology demonstration – a project that aims to test a new capability for the first time. MiMi Aung, the Ingenuity project manager at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), said: “We can now say that human beings have flown a rotorcraft on another planet.” Before the mission arrived on Mars, Aung told the Guardian that the 1.8kg flying machine could pave the way for future craft that scout ahead of robotic rovers, or even human visitors to other planets, to explore terrain beyond their reach. For Flight 12, we’re not only aiming to add to those totals as we fill in another page of our logbook, but also hopeful that we’ll get to include a mention in the book’s Remarks section about how much this flight helped our colleagues working on Perseverance.The achievement was met with cheers and applause at mission control, where scientists released pictures taken from the craft’s onboard camera that captured the shadow it cast on the Martian soil. We are happy to report all systems are green and that the helicopter is ready for continued flight operations. ![]() Before our campaign began, we were hoping for at least one, maybe up to three or four successful flights.Ī couple of the things we like to keep an eye on in our logbook entries: Ingenuity has logged 19 minutes and approximately 1.2 nautical miles in the Martian skies (so far). So far, 11 pages have been completed with the statistics and observations of our flights. We are filling out more pages in our pilot’s logbook ( the Nominal Pilot’s Logbook for Planets and Moons) than we ever thought possible. Entries for Flights 9 and 10 are seen here. Ingenuity Logbook Entries: Håvard Grip, chief pilot of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, documents the details of each flight in the mission’s logbook, The Nominal Pilot’s Logbook for Planets and Moons, after each flight. Knowing that we have the opportunity to help the Perseverance team with science planning by providing unique aerial footage is all the motivation needed. When we choose to accept the risks associated with such a flight, it is because of the correspondingly high rewards. Deviations from this assumption can introduce errors that can lead both to temporary excursions in roll and pitch (tilting back and forth in an oscillating pattern), as well as long-term errors in the helicopter’s knowledge of its position. Ingenuity’s navigation system – which was originally intended to support a short technology demonstration – works on the assumption that it is flying across flat (or nearly flat) terrain. ![]() Flying over Séítah South carries substantial risk because of the varied terrain. Over the course of the flight, Ingenuity will capture 10 color images that we hope will help the Perseverance science team determine which of all the boulders, rocky outcrops and other geologic features in South Séítah may be worthy of further scrutiny by the rover. Then, while keeping the camera in the same direction, Ingenuity will backtrack, returning to the same area from where it took off. Once there, the helicopter will make a 5-meter “sidestep” in order to get side-by-side images of the surface terrain suitable to construct a stereo, or 3D, image. ![]() The plan is as follows: Ingenuity will climb to an altitude of 10 meters and fly approximately 235 meters east-northeast toward the area of interest in Séítah. As a result, the timing of Ingenuity’s Flight 12 is critical. Thanks to its newly enabled AutoNav capability, Perseverance is quickly moving northwest across the southern ridge of Séítah (white path) and will meet Ingenuity in the coming days. This latest effort will be similar to Flight 10, where we performed some location scouting for the Perseverance team of a surface feature called “Raised Ridges.” But, Flight 12 has the potential to have more impactful results. PDT, or 13:23 LMST (local Mars time), the 174 th sol (Martian day) of the Perseverance mission, the flight will venture into the geologically intriguing “South Séítah” region (top yellow circle in graphic above). Taking place no earlier than Monday, Aug. Ingenuity’s team is suiting up again for its next big challenging sortie, Flight 12.
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