Photo from mars.nasa.gov
Mars Helicopter - Status Update
We need to wait a little longer for the first flying helicopter tour of our neighbor the Red Planet by the Martian drone helicopter, Ingenuity.
Mars.nasa.gov provided a status update today stating:
Based on data from the Ingenuity Mars helicopter that arrived late Friday night, NASA has chosen to reschedule the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s first experimental flight to no earlier than April 14.
Watchdog Timer
An issue was apparently observed during the tests run on April 9th:
During a high-speed spin test of the rotors on Friday, the command sequence controlling the test ended early due to a “watchdog” timer expiration...The watchdog timer oversees the command sequence and alerts the system to any potential issues. It helps the system stay safe by not proceeding if an issue is observed and worked as planned.
Reschedule Forthcoming
The Ingenuity NASA and JPL teams are reviewing the data and plan a reschedule afterward:
The helicopter team is reviewing telemetry to diagnose and understand the issue. Following that, they will reschedule the full-speed test.
Historic Mission
Many of us here on Earth (aka Terra) eagerly look forward to the first other worldly flight on Mars this month.
Ingenuity arrived on Mars with the Perseverance rover on February 18th, 2021. Perseverance was launched on July 30th, 2020, to begin its historic vision to explore and record data on Mars.
If you have not yet viewed the high definition images from Nasa, certainly check them out!
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