NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter made a record 25th flight on April 8, 2022. The helicopter’s navigation camera captured its longest and fastest flight to date on the Red Planet. The helicopter covered 2,310 feet (704 meters) at a top speed of 12 mph (5.5 meters per second). Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
Farther and faster than ever
Images have come down from Mars capturing a recent flight in which NASA’s Mars Ingenuity helicopter flew farther and faster than ever.
The black-and-white navigation camera aboard the Ingenuity Mars helicopter has provided a spectacular video of its record-breaking 25th flight, which took place on April 8th. Covering a distance of 2,310 feet (704 meters) at a speed of 12 mph (5.5 meters per second), it was the longest and fastest flight of the Red Planet helicopter to date. (Ingenuity is currently preparing for its 29th volume.)
“For our record flight, the ingenuity downhill navigation camera gave us an impressive sense of what it would feel like to glide 33 feet above the surface of Mars at 12 miles per hour,” said the leader of the Ingenuity team, Teddy Tzanetos, from NASA Jet. Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter made a record 25th flight on April 8, 2022. The helicopter’s navigation camera captured its longest and fastest flight to date on the Red Planet. The helicopter covered 2,310 feet (704 meters) at a top speed of 12 mph (5.5 meters per second). Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech The first frame of the video clip begins approximately one second after the flight. After reaching an altitude of 10 meters, the helicopter heads southwest, accelerating to its maximum speed in less than three seconds. The plane first flies over a group of sand waves and then, in the middle of the video, several rock fields. Finally, relatively flat, unpaved terrain appears below, providing a good landing point. The 161.3-second flight video accelerated approximately five times, reducing it to less than 35 seconds.
The navigation camera is programmed to turn off whenever the aircraft is 3 feet (1 meter) from the surface. This helps ensure that dust that rises during takeoff and landing does not interfere with the navigation system, as it keeps track of features on the ground.
Ingenious flights are autonomous. JPL’s “pilots” plan them and send orders to the Perseverance Mars rover, which then transmits those orders to the helicopter. During a flight, the on-board sensors (the navigation camera, an inertial unit of measurement, and a laser rangefinder) provide real-time data to the Ingenuity navigation processor and the main flight computer, which guide the helicopter in flight. flight. This allows Ingenuity to react to the landscape while performing its commands.
Recently, mission controllers lost communication with Ingenuity after the helicopter entered a low-power state. Now that the aircraft is in contact again and getting the proper energy from its solar array to charge its six lithium-ion batteries, the team looks forward to its next flight to Mars.
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The Ingenuity Mars helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages the project for NASA headquarters. It has the support of NASA’s Scientific Mission Directorate. NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, provided meaningful analysis of flight performance and technical assistance during the development of Ingenuity. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm and SolAero also provided design assistance and key vehicle components. Lockheed Space designed and manufactured Mars’ helicopter delivery system.
At NASA headquarters, Dave Lavery is the executive of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter program.