Ingenuity, NASA’s miniature Mars helicopter, is almost ready to make history with the first powered flight to another planet.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory team announced Friday that it has completed final reviews of systems integrating the helicopter with the Perseverance Rover.
JPL chief engineers Farah Alibay and Timothy Kenham said they were ready for a historic mission.
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“Yeah, we’re definitely very excited,” Kenham said in an update. “Right now, the helicopter is still attached to the rover. So, we’re heating and feeding it. We’re charging the battery. And, we’re also working with Farah’s team to identify the final destination for the helicopter.”
On Wednesday, JPL announced that it has selected a flight zone in which to initiate ingenuity.
Alibaba said his team now has to prepare for the next mission by dropping the debris ield that protects the helicopter, its delivery system and rover from rocks and other hazards.
“After that, we’ll go on a multi-day trip to the helicopter dropoff location,” she explained.
“Once we get there, it will actually take us about a week to arrange the helicopter,” Alibe noted.
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18 February. About 60 days after the 18th landing, the Mars Helicopter Delivery System will adjust the helicopter, rotating it and freeing it five inches above the surface of Mars.
The helicopter’s delivery system will be connected to Perseverance for the rest of its time on Mars.
Kenham said it is working closely with Alibaba’s team to identify the commands to ensure that the commands are ready to execute a lot of commands and not too many large rocks but a well-formed, flat site so that the rover’s “navigation camera can detect” the surface. The way. “
The helicopter – which will be picked up by its own solar panel – has a one-month window for five test flights, which are expected to begin in the first week of April, after Drew’s ingenuity.
On the ground, the rover will be able to communicate with mission controllers on Earth and provide environmental monitoring and imaging support.
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On Tuesday, a virtual briefing on the NASA ingenuity mission is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
The briefing will be broadcast live on NASA Television, the NASA App and Agency website, and multiple social media platforms.
