Jump to content

Ingenuity (helicopter)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by The Unsinkable Molly Brown (talk | contribs) at 02:17, 1 January 2022 (I've placed the "Mars Helicopter" logo in the miscellaneous images category for now, since I literally have no idea where to put this rather unencyclopedic image that doesn't really illustrate anything significant in the article (WP:GALLERY) in a way that will not break the article like the bloated infobox + this image directly below it did.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"Mars helicopter" redirects here. For Mars aircraft in general, see Mars aircraft.
"Wright Brothers Field" redirects here. For other uses, see Wright Field (disambiguation).

Ingenuity
Part of Mars 2020
A robotic helicopter on the surface of Mars.
Ingenuity on the Martian surface in April 2021.
TypExtraterrestrial autonomous UAV helicopter
Serial no.IGY (civil registration)
OwnerNASA
ManufacturerJet Propulsion Laboratory
Specifications
Dimensions121 cm × 49 cm (48 in × 19 in)
Dry mass1.8 kilograms (4.0 lb)[1]
PowerSolar array; 350 W (0.47 hp)[2]
Instruments
History
Deployed
StandortJezero crater, Mars[3]
First flight
  • 19 April 2021, 07:34 UTC
Last flight
  • 15 December 2021, 12:25 UTC
Flights18
Flight time32 minutes, 51 seconds
Travelled3.82 km (2.37 mi) on Mars as of 15 December 2021[4]

Ingenuity is a small robotic helicopter operating on Mars as part of NASA's Mars 2020 mission along with the Perseverance rover, which landed on February 18, 2021. Two months later, on April 19, Ingenuity successfully completed the first powered controlled extraterrestrial flight by an aircraft – taking off vertically, hovering, and landing, for a flight duration of 39.1 seconds.[5][6][7] As of December 15, 2021, the helicopter has made 18 successful flights.

Ingenuity was designed and built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Other contributors include NASA's Ames Research Center, NASA's Langley Research Center,[8] AeroVironment, Inc., SolAero, and Lockheed Martin Space.[9] Ingenuity's rotors measure 1.2 m (4 ft)[1][10][11], while its entire body is 0.49 m (1 ft 7 in) tall.[1] Its fuselage measures 13.6 cm × 19.5 cm × 16.3 cm (5.4 in × 7.7 in × 6.4 in), and sports four landing legs that are 0.384 m (1 ft 3.1 in) long each.[1] Ingenuity is operated by solar-charged batteries that power dual counter-rotating rotors mounted one above the other. During its 30-day technology demonstration, Ingenuity was intended to fly up to five times at altitudes ranging 3–5 m (10–16 ft) above the ground for up to 90 seconds each.[1][12] The expected lateral range was exceeded in the third flight, and the flight duration was exceeded in the fourth flight. With those technical successes, Ingenuity achieved its original objectives. The flights proved the helicopter's ability to fly in the extremely thin atmosphere of another planet over a hundred million miles from Earth without direct human control. Ingenuity operates autonomously, performing maneuvers planned, scripted and transmitted to it by JPL.

After the brief demonstration phase, JPL then began more flights as operational demonstrations, to show how aerial scouting can benefit future exploration of Mars and other worlds.[13][14] In its operational role, Ingenuity is observing areas of interest for possible examination by the Perseverance rover.[15][16][1][17]

Ingenuity travelled to Mars attached to the underside of Perseverance, which touched down at the Octavia E. Butler Landing site in Jezero crater on February 18, 2021.[18][19][20] The helicopter was deployed to the surface on April 3, 2021,[21][22] and Perseverance drove approximately 100 m (330 ft) away to allow the drone a safe "buffer zone" in which it made its first flight.[23][24] Success was confirmed three hours later in a livestreaming TV feed of JPL mission control.[25][26][27] On its fourth flight, April 30, 2021, Ingenuity became the first interplanetary spacecraft whose sound was recorded by another interplanetary spacecraft, Perseverance.[28]

Ingenuity carries a piece of fabric from the wing of the 1903 Wright Flyer, the Wright Brothers' airplane used in the first controlled powered heavier-than-air flight on Earth. The initial take-off and landing area for Ingenuity is named Wright Brothers Field as a tribute.[29] Before Ingenuity, the first flight of any kind on a planet beyond Earth was an unpowered balloon flight on Venus, by the Soviet Vega 1 spacecraft in 1985.[30]

Design

The main components of Ingenuity
Flight characteristics of Ingenuity
Rotor speed 2400–2700 rpm[1][11][31]
Blade tip speed <0.7 Mach[32]
Originally planned operational time 1 to 5 flights within 30 sols[1][2]
Flight time Up to 167 seconds per flight[33]
Maximum range, flight 625 m (2,050 ft)[33]
Maximum range, radio 1,000 m (3,300 ft)[17]
Maximum altitude 12 m (39 ft)
Maximum possible speed
  • Horizontal: 10 m/s (33 ft/s)[8]
  • Vertical: 3 m/s (9.8 ft/s)[8]
Battery capacity 35–40 Wh (130–140 kJ)[34]

The lower gravity of Mars (about a third of Earth's) only partially offsets the thinness of the 95% carbon dioxide atmosphere of Mars[35] thus making it much harder for an aircraft to generate adequate lift. The atmospheric density of the Red Planet is about 1⁄100 as that of Earth at sea level, or approximately the same as 87,000 ft (27,000 m), an altitude never reached by existing helicopters. To keep Ingenuity aloft, its specially shaped blades of enlarged size must rotate at a speed at least 2400 and up to 2900 rpm, or about 10 times faster[10] than what is needed on Earth.[36][37] The helicopter uses contra-rotating coaxial rotors about 1.2 m (4 ft) in diameter. Each rotor is controlled by a separate swashplate that can affect both collective and cyclic pitch.[38]

There are two cameras on board: the downward-looking black-and-white navigation camera (NAV) and the color camera to make terrain images for return to Earth (RTE).[17] Although it is an aircraft, it was constructed to spacecraft specifications in order to endure the acceleration and vibrations during launch.[37] It also includes radiation-resistant systems capable of operating in the environment of Mars. The inconsistent Mars magnetic field precludes the use of a compass for navigation, so Ingenuity relies upon different sensors grouped in two assemblies. All sensors are commercial off-the-shelf units.

The Upper Sensor Assembly with associated vibration isolation elements is mounted on the mast close to the center-of-mass of the vehicle to minimize the effects of angular rates and accelerations. It consists of a cellphone grade Bosch BMI-160 Inertial measurement unit (IMU) and an inclinometer (Murata SCA100T-D02), which is used only on the ground prior to flight to calibrate the IMU accelerometers biases. The Lower Sensor Assembly consists of an altimeter (Garmin LIDAR Lite v3), both of the cameras and a secondary IMU, all mounted directly onto the Electronics Core Module and not onto the mast. The down-facing Omnivision OV7251 camera supports visual odometry, in which images are processed to produce navigation solutions that calculate helicopter position, velocity, attitude, and other variables.[17]

The helicopter uses solar panels to recharge its batteries, which are six Sony Li-ion cells with 35–40 Wh (130–140 kJ) of energy capacity[34] (nameplate capacity of 2 Ah).[17] Flight duration is not constrained by the available power, but by the motors heating up 1°C every second.[39]

The helicopter uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor with a Linux operating system.[40] Among other functions, this processor controls the visual navigation algorithm via a velocity estimate derived from terrain features tracked with the navigation camera.[41] The Qualcomm processor is connected to two flight-control microcontroller units (MCUs) to perform the necessary flight-control functions.[17]

The telecommunication system consists of two identical radios with monopole antennae which support the data exchange between the helicopter and the rover. The radio link is built upon the low-power Zigbee communication protocols, implemented via 914 MHz SiFlex 02 chipsets mounted in both the rover and helicopter. The communication system is designed to relay data at 250 kbit/s over distances of up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft). The antenna located on the solar panel of the helicopter weighs 4 grams and may communicate equally in all directions.[42]

The team

The Mars Helicopter team in 2018
Some of the Ingenuity team in 2019

The history of the Mars Helicopter team dates back to 2012, when MiMi Aung was leading then JPL director Charles Elachi on a tour of the Autonomous Systems Division. Looking at the drones demonstrating onboard navigation algorithms in one of the labs, Elachi asked, "Hey, why don't we do that on Mars?" Engineer Bob Balaram briefed Elachi about feasibility, and a week later Elachi told him, "Okay, I've got some study money for you". By January 2015 NASA agreed to fund the development of a full-size model, which came to be known as the "risk reduction" vehicle. As project manager, Aung assembled a multidisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, and technicians leveraging all of NASA's expertise.[43]

The JPL team was never larger than 65 full-time-equivalent employees, but program workers at AeroVironment and NASA AMES and Langley research centers brought the total to 150.[43] Team members include:

On June 15, 2021, the team behind Ingenuity was named the 2021 winner of the John L. "Jack" Swigert, Jr. Award for Space Exploration from the Space Foundation.[63]

Conceptual design

Ingenuity upper swashplate assembly
A — Rotor blade; B — Pitch link; C — Servo; D — Swashplate

NASA's JPL and AeroVironment published the conceptual design in 2014 for a scout helicopter to accompany a rover.[8][64][65] By mid-2016, $15 million was being requested to continue development of the helicopter.[66] By December 2017, engineering models of the vehicle had been tested in a simulated martian atmosphere[17][10] and models were undergoing testing in the Arctic, but its inclusion in the mission had not yet been approved or funded.[67] The United States federal budget, announced in March 2018, provided $23 million for the helicopter for one year,[68][69] and it was announced on May 11, 2018, that the helicopter could be developed and tested in time to be included in the Mars 2020 mission.[70] The helicopter underwent extensive flight-dynamics and environment testing,[17][71] and was mounted on the underside of the Perseverance rover in August 2019.[72] NASA spent about $80 million to build Ingenuity and about $5 million to operate the helicopter.[73]

In April 2020, the vehicle was named Ingenuity by Vaneeza Rupani, a girl in the 11th grade at Tuscaloosa County High School in Northport, Alabama, who submitted an essay into NASA's "Name the Rover" contest.[74][75] Known in planning stages as the Mars Helicopter Scout,[32] or simply the Mars Helicopter,[11] the nickname Ginny later entered use in parallel to the parent rover Perseverance being affectionately referred to as Percy.[76]

Ingenuity was designed to be a technology demonstrator by JPL to assess whether such a vehicle could fly safely. Before it was built, launched and landed, scientists and managers expressed hope that helicopters could provide better mapping and guidance that would give future mission controllers more information to help with travel routes, planning and hazard avoidance.[77][78][79] Based on the performance of previous rovers through Curiosity, it was assumed that such aerial scouting might enable future rovers to safely drive up to three times as far per sol.[80][81] However, the new AutoNav capability at Perseverance significantly reduced this advantage, allowing the rover to cover more than 100 meters per sol.[82]

Preliminary tests on Earth

In 2019, preliminary designs of Ingenuity were tested on Earth in simulated Mars atmospheric and gravity conditions. For flight testing, a large vacuum chamber was used to simulate the very low pressure of the atmosphere of Mars – filled with carbon dioxide to approximately 0.60% (about 1⁄160) of standard atmospheric pressure at sea level on Earth – which is roughly equivalent to a helicopter flying at 34,000 m (112,000 ft) altitude in the atmosphere of Earth. In order to simulate the much reduced gravity field of Mars (38% of Earth's), 62% of Earth's gravity was offset by a line pulling upwards during flight tests.[34] A "wind-wall" consisting of almost 900 computer fans was used to provide wind in the chamber.[83][84]: 1:08:05–1:08:40 

Mission profile

After deployment, the rover drove approximately 100 m (330 ft) away from the drone to allow a safe flying zone.[21][22] The Ingenuity helicopter was expected to fly up to five times during a 30-day test campaign, early in the rover's mission.[1][12]

Ingenuity hanging from the belly of the Perseverance rover during deployment to the Martian surface

Each flight was planned for altitudes ranging 3–5 m (10–16 ft) above the ground, though Ingenuity soon exceeded that planned height.[1] The first flight was a hover at an altitude of 3 m (9.8 ft), lasting about 40 seconds and including taking a picture of the rover. The first flight succeeded, and subsequent flights were increasingly ambitious as allotted time for operating the helicopter dwindled. JPL said the mission might even stop before the 30-day period ended, in the likely event that the helicopter crashed,[84]: 0:49:50–0:51:40  an outcome which did not occur. In up to 90 seconds per flight, Ingenuity could travel as far as 50 m (160 ft) downrange and then back to the starting area, though that goal was also soon exceeded with the fourth flight.[1][46] The helicopter uses autonomous control during its flights, which are telerobotically planned and scripted by operators at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It communicates with the Perseverance rover directly before and after each landing.[84]: 1:20:38–1:22:20 

After the successful first three flights, the objective was changed from technology demonstration to operational demonstration. The goal shifted towards supporting the rover science mission by mapping and scouting the terrain.[85] While Ingenuity would do more to help Perseverance, the rover would pay less attention to the helicopter and stop taking pictures of it in flight. JPL managers said the photo procedure took an "enormous" amount of time, slowing the project's main mission of looking for signs of ancient life.[86] On 30 April 2021, the fourth flight successfully captured numerous color photos and explored the surface with its black-and-white navigation camera.[46] On May 7, Ingenuity successfully flew to a new landing site.

On 5 September 2021, after successful completion of the Operations Demonstration phase, the mission was extended indefinitely.[87]

Operational history

Comparison of total distance traveled between Ingenuity and Perseverance.[a]
Tracks and locations of Perseverance and Ingenuity as of November 6, 2021[88]

Perseverance dropped the debris shield protecting Ingenuity on March 21, 2021, and the helicopter deployed from the underside of the rover to the martian surface on April 3, 2021.[89] That day both cameras of the helicopter were tested taking their first b/w and color photos of the floor of Jezero Crater in the shadow of the rover.[90][91]

Ingenuity's rotor blades were successfully unlocked on April 8, 2021 (mission sol 48), and the helicopter performed a low-speed rotor spin test at 50 rpm.[92][93][94][95]

A high-speed spin test was attempted on April 9, but failed due to the expiration of a watchdog timer, a software measure to protect the helicopter from incorrect operation in unforeseen conditions.[96] On April 12, JPL said it identified a software fix to correct the problem.[24] To save time, however, JPL decided to use a workaround procedure, which managers said had an 85% chance of succeeding and would be "the least disruptive" to the helicopter.[44]

On April 16, 2021, Ingenuity successfully passed the full-speed 2400 rpm rotor spin test while remaining on the surface.[97][26] Three days later, April 19, JPL flew the helicopter for the first time. The watchdog timer problem occurred again when the fourth flight was attempted. The team rescheduled the flight, which succeeded on April 30. On June 25, JPL said it had uploaded a software update the previous week to permanently fix the watchdog problem, and that a rotor spin test and the eighth flight confirmed that the update worked.[51]

The Ingenuity team plans to fly the helicopter every two to three weeks during its indefinitely extended mission.[87] The helicopter's longer-than-expected flying career lasted into a seasonal change on Mars, when the atmospheric density at its location became even lower. The flight team prepared by commanding Ingenuity to ground-test a faster rotor blade rotation, needed for sufficient lift. JPL said the higher planned flight speed of 2700 rpm would pose new risks, including vibration, power consumption and aerodynamic drag if the blade tips approach the speed of sound.[31] The test speed was 2800 rpm, giving a margin for increase if the intended flight speed of 2700 is not enough. Ingenuity faced another challenge to remain functional during the Martian winter and solar conjunction, when Mars moves behind the Sun, blocking communications with Earth and forcing the rover and helicopter to halt operations. The shutdown happened in mid-October 2021, for which preparations started in mid-September.[98][99] The helicopter remained stationary at its location 575 feet (175 meters) away from Perseverance and communicated its status weekly to the rover for health checks.[100] JPL intended to continue flying Ingenuity since it survived solar conjunction.[101][102]NASA leadership has acknowledged that extending the mission adds to the original Ingenuity budget of $80 million but has stated that any increase would be minimal compared to what NASA is learning.[103]

List of flights

(Record values highlighted)

Flight No. Date (UTC)
(Sol) 		Duration (sec) Max Altitude Horizontal Distance Max Groundspeed Route Summary
Technology Demonstration Phase
1 April 19, 2021 at 07:34
(Sol 58) 		39.1 3 m (9.8 ft) 0 m (0 ft) 0 m/s (0 mph) Vertical takeoff, hover, land at Wright Brothers Field (JZRO) 18°26′41″N 77°27′04″E / 18.44486°N 77.45102°E / 18.44486; 77.45102[88] The first powered flight by any aircraft on another planet. While hovering, it rotated in place 96 degrees in a planned maneuver. Flight data was received at 11:30 UTC.[6][104]
2 April 22, 2021 at 09:33
(Sol 61) 		51.9 5 m (16 ft) 4 m (13 ft) Roundtrip 0.5 m/s (1.1 mph) Hover, shift westward 2 m (6.6 ft), hover, return, hover, land[105][45] 18°26′41″N 77°27′04″E / 18.44486°N 77.45102°E / 18.44486; 77.45102[88] From its initial hover, it tilted 5 degrees, allowing the rotors to fly it 2 meters sideways. It stopped, hovered in place, and rotated counterclockwise, yawing from +90° to 0° to -90° to -180°, in 3 steps, to point its color camera in various directions to take photos. After that it flew back to its takeoff location.[106]
3 April 25, 2021 at 11:31
(Sol 64) 		80.3 5 m (16 ft) 100 m (330 ft) Roundtrip 2 m/s (4.5 mph) Hover, shift northward 50 m (160 ft), return, hover, land[54][107] 18°26′41″N 77°27′04″E / 18.44486°N 77.45101°E / 18.44486; 77.45101[88] This was first flight to venture some distance from the helicopter's deployment spot. It flew downrange 50 meters at a speed of two meters per second. After a short hovering above the turnback point it returned to land at the departure spot.[108] Data from the flight was received at 14:16 UTC.[107]
4 April 29, 2021[109] (Sol 68) First attempt of flight 4 failed Onboard software did not transition to flight mode.[51][13][110]
April 30, 2021 at 14:49.[46]
(Sol 69) 		116.9 5 m (16 ft) 266 m (873 ft) Roundtrip 3.5 m/s (7.8 mph) Hover, shift southward 84 m (276 ft), hover, return, hover, land[111] 18°26′41″N 77°27′04″E / 18.44486°N 77.45112°E / 18.44486; 77.45112[88] Took color images while hovering at its farthest point from takeoff.[46] During the fourth flight Perseverance rover recorded both audio and video of Ingenuity,[112] making the helicopter the first interplanetary vehicle whose sound was heard and recorded by another interplanetary vehicle.
5 May 7, 2021 at 19:26[113]
(Sol 76) 		108.2 10 m (33 ft) 129 m (423 ft) 2 m/s (4.5 mph) Hover, shift southwards 129 m (423 ft), climb to 10 m (33 ft), hover, land at Airfield B 18°26′34″N 77°27′05″E / 18.44267°N 77.45139°E / 18.44267; 77.45139[88] This was the first flight to land at a new location 129 m (423 ft) to the south. On arrival, it gained altitude, hovered, captured a few color terrain images and then landed at that new site, Airfield B.[39][114] This flight was the last in the technology demo phase.
Operation Demonstration Phase
6 May 23, 2021 at 5:20[56]
(Sol 91) 		139.9 10 m (33 ft) 215 m (705 ft) with direction changes 4 m/s (8.9 mph) Shift southwest about 150 m (490 ft), southward about 15 m (49 ft), northeast about 50 m (160 ft), land at Airfield C 18°26′30″N 77°27′00″E / 18.44166°N 77.44994°E / 18.44166; 77.44994[88] Towards the end of the first leg of the route a glitch occurred in the navigation images processing system. An image was dropped, and subsequent images with incorrect timestamps resulted in the craft tilting forward and backward up to 20 degrees, with large spikes in power consumption. Flying in that mode continued until the successful landing about 5 m (16 ft) away from the planned spot.[56][115]

This was the first flight where the helicopter had to land at an airfield which was not surveyed by any means other than MRO orbital imagery.[116][117]

7 June 6, 2021[51] (Sol 105) First attempt of flight 7 failed Onboard software did not transition to flight mode.[51]
June 8, 2021 at 15:54
(Sol 107) 		62.8[118] 10 m (33 ft)[119] 106 m (348 ft) 4 m/s (8.9 mph) Shift southward 106 m (348 ft) to land at Airfield D 18°26′24″N 77°27′01″E / 18.43988°N 77.45015°E / 18.43988; 77.45015[88] Flew 106 m (348 ft) south to a new landing spot and landed at Airfield D. The color camera was not used to prevent the glitch of flight 6 happening again.[120][121]
8 June 22, 2021 at 0:27[122]
(Sol 121) 		77.4 10 m (33 ft) 160 m (520 ft) 4 m/s (8.9 mph) Shift south south-east 160 m (520 ft) to land at Airfield E[51] 18°26′14″N 77°27′03″E / 18.43724°N 77.45079°E / 18.43724; 77.45079[88] Flew about 160 m (520 ft) south to land at Airfield E, about 133.5 m (438 ft) away from Perseverance rover. Like in the previous flight, the color camera was switched off.[51]
9 July 5, 2021 at 9:03[119]
(Sol 133) 		166.4 10 m (33 ft)
625 m (2,051 ft)
5 m/s (11 mph)
 Shift southwest 625 m (2,050 ft) to Airfield F 18°25′41″N 77°26′44″E / 18.42809°N 77.44545°E / 18.42809; 77.44545[88] Flew southwest, over Séítah, a prospective research location in Jezero crater. This flight strained the navigation system, which assumed flat ground while Séítah had uneven sand dunes. This was partly mitigated with the helicopter flying slower over the more challenging regions of the flight. Landing occurred 47 m (154 ft) from the center of the 50 m (160 ft) planned ellipse. [50][123][57]
10 July 24, 2021 at 21:07[52]
(Sol 152) 		165.4[124]
12 m (39 ft)
[52] 		233 m (764 ft)[119] 5 m/s (11 mph) Loop south and west over Raised Ridges to Airfield G 18°25′41″N 77°26′37″E / 18.42808°N 77.44373°E / 18.42808; 77.44373[88] Looped south and west over Raised Ridges, another prospective research location on Mars. A total distance of 233 m (764 ft) was flown past 10 waypoints, including takeoff and landing.[125]
11 August 5, 2021 at 4:53[62]
(Sol 164) 		130.9 12 m (39 ft) 383 m (1,257 ft) 5 m/s (11 mph) Shift northwest 383 m (1,257 ft) to land at Airfield H 18°25′58″N 77°26′21″E / 18.43278°N 77.43919°E / 18.43278; 77.43919[88] Transition to the takeoff point of the next flight planned to take the photographs of South Séítah.[62][126]
12 August 16, 2021 at 12:57[53]
(Sol 174)
169.5
 10 m (33 ft) 450 m (1,480 ft) Roundtrip 4.3 m/s (9.6 mph) Landing point was assigned the name Airfield H again 18°25′58″N 77°26′21″E / 18.43268°N 77.43924°E / 18.43268; 77.43924[88] The round trip northeast and back about 235 m (771 ft) long. The return path was about 5 m (16 ft) to the side to allow another attempt of paired images collection for a stereo imagery. Landed about 25 m (82 ft) east from the takeoff point.[127][128]
13 September 5, 2021 at 00:10[129]
(Sol 194) 		160.5 8 m (26 ft) 210 m (690 ft) Roundtrip 3.3 m/s (7.4 mph) Landing point was assigned the name Airfield H again 18°25′58″N 77°26′21″E / 18.43285°N 77.43915°E / 18.43285; 77.43915[88] Roundtrip northeast for about 105 m (344 ft)northeast and back. The flight concentrated on one particular ridgeline and outcrops in South Séítah.
14 September 16, 2021 (Sol 204) to October 23, 2021 (Sol 240) Flight attempt at 2700 rpm was automatically canceled due to a servo motor anomaly.[31]
Ground tests and flight postponed until after end of solar conjunction. 		Faster rotor spin at 2800 rpm was successfully tested on the ground.[130] Servo motor "wiggle" tests were done in an effort to diagnose the problem that prevented flight.[31][131] After the solar conjunction the 50 rpm rotor spin ground test was successfully performed.[132]
October 24, 2021 at 8:18
(Sol 241) 		23.0 5 m (16 ft) 2 m (6.6 ft)[133] 0.5 m/s (1.1 mph) Hover, shift eastward 2 m (6.6 ft), hover, land again near Airfield H[31] 18°25′58″N 77°26′21″E / 18.43284°N 77.43920°E / 18.43284; 77.43920[88] Flight 14 was a brief verification of faster rotor spin at 2700 rpm, needed during seasonal lower atmospheric density.[134][135]
15 November 6, 2021 at 16:22

(Sol 254)

128.8 12 m (39 ft) 407 m (1,335 ft) 5 m/s (11 mph) Shift southeast 407 m (1,335 ft) to land at Airfield F 18°25′43″N 77°26′42″E / 18.42871°N 77.44501°E / 18.42871; 77.44501[88] First in a series of four to seven flights on a return journey to Wright Brothers Field. This leg ended in the Raised Ridges region.[136][137]
16 November 21, 2021 at 2:09[138]

(Sol 268)

107.9 10 m (33 ft) 116 m (381 ft) 1.5 m/s (3.4 mph) Shift northeast 116 m (381 ft) to land at Airfield J 18°25′48″N 77°26′47″E / 18.43013°N 77.44645°E / 18.43013; 77.44645[88] Landed near the edge of South Séítah, prior to crossing that area on multiple impending flights.
17 December 5, 2021 at 12:25
(Sol 282) 		116.8 10 m (33 ft) 187 m (614 ft) 2.5 m/s (5.6 mph) Shift northeast 187 m (614 ft) to land at Airfield K 18°25′59″N 77°26′52″E / 18.43306°N 77.44771°E / 18.43306; 77.44771 Flew halfway across South Séítah along the heading of flight 9 but in the reverse direction.[139] There was a loss of communication between itself and the rover during the final descent, roughly 3 m (10 ft) off the ground, but JPL reported "We believe the flight was a success" based on available telemetry. On Sol 285, Ingenuity relayed more information on its status. The data suggested the helicopter was upright, based on its solar arrays charging its batteries, which cannot be done if the helicopter is sideways. JPL said local terrain and Perseverance positioning probably had interrupted communication between the rover and helicopter.[140]
18 December 15, 2021 at 17:27[141][142]
(Sol 292) 		124.3 10 m (33 ft) 230 m (750 ft) 2.5 m/s (5.6 mph) Shift northeast ~200 m (660 ft) to land just near the northern edge of South Séítah at Airfield L18°26′10″N 77°27′00″E / 18.43623°N 77.45011°E / 18.43623; 77.45011 Flying across South Séítah along the heading of flight 9 but in the reverse direction to land near flight 9 takeoff spot. It is another in a series of flights returning Ingenuity to Wright Brothers Field.

Flight totals[b]

Flight property Since deployment
(April 3, 2021/Sol 43) 		In tech demo phase In operations demo phase % Work done above
tech demo
Sols achieved 1216 31 1184 710%
Number of flights 18 5 13 240%
Distance flown (m) 3.82 km (2.37 mi) 0.50 km (0.31 mi) 3.32 km (2.06 mi) 620%
Time flown (s) 1971 s
(32 min 51 s) 		396 s
(6 min 36 s) 		1575 s
(26 min 15 s) 		398%

Ingenuity's imagery

Count of stored images from both cameras per each flight[143]
Flight No. Date (UTC) and Mars 2020 mission sol Photographs Kommentare
b/w
NAV 		color
RTE
Before April 19, 2021 (sol 58) 6[91] 6[144] Preflight camera tests
1 April 19, 2021 (sol 58) 15 —
2 April 22, 2021 (sol 61) 17 3 The first color photosession
3 April 25, 2021 (sol 64) 24 4
4 April 30, 2021 (sol 69) 62 5
5 May 7, 2021 (sol 76) 128 6
6 May 23, 2021 (sol 91) 106 8
7 June 8, 2021 (sol 107) 72 0 RTE was turned off[51]
8 June 22, 2021 (sol 121) 186 0
9 July 5, 2021 (sol 133) 193 10
10 July 24, 2021 (sol 152) 190 10 Five pairs of color images of Raised Ridges taken to make anaglyphs.[52]
11 August 5, 2021 (sol 164) 194 10
12 August 16, 2021 (Sol 174) 197[145] 10 Five pairs of color images of Séítah taken to make anaglyphs.[53]
13 September 5, 2021 (Sol 193) 191[146] 10
September 16, 2021 (Sol 204) to October 23, 2021 (Sol 240) 6 1 preflight 14 tests
14 October 24, 2021 (Sol 241) 182 —
15 November 6, 2021 (Sol 254) 191 10
November 15, 2021 (Sol 263) — 1 ground color photo[147]
16 November 21, 2021 (Sol 268) 103 9
November 27, 2021 (Sol 274) — 1 ground color photo[148]

Ingenuity has two commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) cameras on board. The Sony IMX 214 with 4208 x 3120 pixel resolution is a color camera with a global shutter to make terrain images for return to Earth (RTE). The Omnivision OV7251 (640 × 480) VGA is the downward-looking black and white rolling shutter navigation camera (NAV), which supplies the onboard computer of the helicopter with the raw data essential for flight control.[17]

While the RTE color camera is not necessary for flight and may be switched off (as in flights 7 and 8[51]), the NAV camera works throughout each flight, catching the first frame before takeoff and the last frame after landing. Its frame rate is synchronized with blade rotation to ease online image processing.

During flight, all NAV frames must be carefully stored in the onboard helicopter computer, with each frame assigned the unique timestamp of its creation. Loss of a single NAV image timestamp was an anomaly that caused the helicopter to move erratically during flight 6.[56]

The monopole antenna of the base station is mounted on a bracket in the right rear part of the rover

The longer a flight lasts, the more NAV photos must be stored. Each new record flight duration automatically means a record number of images taken by the NAV camera. The frequency and timing of the camera's operations are predetermined not for the sake of records, but due to the technical necessity. A huge number of NAV files does not overload the local storage of the helicopter. Less than 200 NAV files are uploaded to the NASA storage after each flight starting from the 8th, and the total volume of this package is only about 5 Megabytes[145] The limitations are imposed by weakness of local telecommunications: when landed, helicopter relays data to the rover in a slow mode of 20 kbit/s.[17] Another significant inconvenience here is caused by the location of the antenna on the side of the rover: if turned wrong side to the helicopter, it may impede signal propagation with its massive metal body.

Most of the NAV files are not transmitted to the rover base station for return to Earth. After the fourth flight, MiMi Aung confirmed that "images from that navigation camera are typically used by Ingenuity's flight controller and then thrown away unless we specifically tell the helicopter to store them for later use".[46] From more than 4000 NAV files acquired on flight four, only 62 were stored.[149]

Small multicolored pebbles around Ingenuity at parking sites on sols 263 and 274

With the end of the flight technology demonstration, Perseverance project manager Jennifer Trosper relinquished her team's responsibilities for photographing Ingenuity to concentrate exclusively on the rover science mission of searching for signs of ancient Martian life. Without pictures from the rover, the flight team relied more heavily on photos taken by the helicopter NAV camera to confirm Ingenuity's location. The helicopter, however, does not create or refine the maps, but rather, depends upon work coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey's Astrogeology Science Center and performed by the NASA Mars and Lunar Cartography Working Groups.[citation needed]

To support the Mars-2020 mission, USGS used photos by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) to produce Context Camera (CTX) and Digital Terrain Models (DTM) and orthoimage mosaics. Those images were used by the Terrain Relative Navigation (TRN) feature on the Perseverance descent vehicle and helped determine the safest landing location.[150] Using maps created from photos and radar elevation data previously acquired by the MRO and other NASA missions, planetary cartographers manually correlate them with terrain features seen by Ingenuity's small and lens-distorted NAV images.[citation needed] After each NAV frame is assigned a georeference, the resulting flight maps are shown at NASA's Mars-2020 tracking service.[88] NAV frames from Ingenuity are also used to produce moving images that show the Martian terrain passing under Ingenuity during its flights.

In November 2021 the Ingenuity team started to supply scientists a new kind of photographic materials — the color photos taken on the ground during the interflight periods. By December, 3 two such photos were received on Earth, the first one acquired on November 15 (sol 263)[147] and another on November 27 (sol 274).[148]

Flights 3 through 9
Flight 3 (April 25, 2021)
Flight 4 (April 30, 2021)
Flight 5 (May 7, 2021)
Flight 6 (May 23, 2021)
last 39 seconds
Flight 7 (June 8, 2021)
(48 seconds)
Flight 8 (June 22, 2021)
(75 seconds)
Flight 9 (July 5, 2021)
full real-time animation
Flights 10 through 14
Flight 10 (July 24, 2021)
full real-time animation
Flight 11 (August 5, 2021)
full real-time animation
Flight 12 (August 16, 2021)
full real-time animation
Flight 13 (September 5, 2021)
full real-time animation
Flight 14 (October 24, 2021)
full real-time animation
Flights 15 through 16
Return flights to Wright Brothers Field ( JZRO)
Flight 15 (November 6, 2021)
191 frames
Flight 16 (November 21, 2021)
103 frames
Video footage of flight 13 (September 5, 2021) from Perseverance Mastcam-Z at a 300 m distance

Unlike Perseverance, Ingenuity does not have a special stereo camera for taking twin photos for 3D pictures simultaneously. However, the helicopter has made such images by taking duplicate color photos of the same terrain while hovering in slightly offset positions, as in flight 11, or by taking an offset picture on the return leg of a roundtrip flight, as in flight 12.[151]

As of December 3, 2021, 2066 black-and-white images from the navigation camera[143] and 104 color images from the terrain camera (RTE)[152] have been published.

Tributes to the Wright brothers

NASA and JPL officials described the first Ingenuity flight as their "Wright Brothers moment", by analogy to the first successful airplane flight on Earth.[29][153] A small piece of the wing cloth from the Wright brothers' 1903 Wright Flyer is attached to a cable underneath Ingenuity's solar panel.[154] In 1969, Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong carried a similar Wright Flyer artifact to the Moon in the Lunar Module Eagle.

NASA named Ingenuity's first take-off and landing airstrip Wright Brothers Field, which the UN agency ICAO gave an airport code of JZRO for Jezero Crater,[155] and the drone itself a type designator of IGY, call-sign INGENUITY.[156][157][158]

Future Mars rotocraft design iteration

Mars Science Helicopter, Ingenuity's proposed successor

The Ingenuity technology demonstrator could form the foundation on which more capable aircraft might be developed for aerial exploration of Mars and other planetary targets with an atmosphere like Mars Science Helicopter.[77][17][159] The next generation of rotorcraft could be in the range between 5 and 30 kg (11 and 66 lb) with science payloads between 0.5 and 5 kg (1.1 and 11.0 lb).[160] These potential aircraft could have direct communication to an orbiter and may or may not continue to work with a landed asset.[22] Future helicopters could be used to explore special regions with exposed water ice or brines, where Mars microbial life could potentially survive.[73][17]

Data collected by Ingenuity is supporting planning of a future helicopter design by engineers at JPL, NASA's Ames Research Center and AeroVironment. The Mars Science Helicopter, a proposed Ingenuity's successor, would be a hexacopter, or six-rotor helicopter, with a mass of about 30 kg (66 lb) compared to 1.8 kg (4.0 lb) of Ingenuity. Mars Science Helicopter could carry as much as 5 kg (11 lb) of science payloads and fly up to 10 km (6.2 mi) per flight.[160]

Audio

Mars helicopter Ingenuity, heard flying on Mars on its fourth flight

Videos

Mars Ingenuity helicopter – test flights – April 2021

Deployment sequence

March 29, 2021: after Ingenuity was extended vertically into place after being rotated outward from its horizontal position on the belly of the rover, Perseverance takes photos for the panorama, catching in its field of view the debris shield which protected Ingenuity during landing and was dropped on March 21, 2021
Ingenuity helicopter: out from under the Perseverance rover
Before releasing Ingenuity the rover had to get rid of the pan which protected the feasible RIMFAX equipment during the landing stage
Debris shield released and dropped
Ingenuity swings down, with two of its four legs extended
Ingenuity with all legs extended
Pre-flight testing
Before tests
Rotor blades are unlocked for tests and flying
The slow-speed (50 rpm) spin up test on sol 48
The high-speed (2400 rpm) spin up test on sol 55

Maps of flights

The flight zone of the technical demonstration stage
The "Twitcher's Point"[c]
The Wright Brothers Field and the overlook location
The Wright Brothers Field
View of the field from the rover
Rover track and Wright Brothers Field
Second helipad[d]
Flights' paths of the operational demonstration stage
Flights 1–9
Profile of Flight 10
Profile of Flight 11
Flights 1–11
Flight profile for Ingenuity's Flight 15
Topography between Mars helicopter and rover for Flight 17

Images by Perseverance

Flights 1–4 viewed by the Perseverance rover
Flight 2 (22 April 2021)
Flight 3 (25 April 2021)
Landed after flight 3 (25 April 2021)
Flight 4 (30 April 2021)
Flights 5–8 viewed by the Perseverance rover
Flight 5 (7 May 2021)
Landed after flight 5 at Airfield B (7 May 2021)
One day after sixth flight (Sol 92)
Four days after 7th flight (Sol 111)
Seven days after 8th flight (Sol 127)

Images by Ingenuity

Flights 1-5[e]
The first color image (April 4, 2021)[f]
Sol 45 (6 April 2021): grounded before flights
In-flight image (19 April 2021, altitude 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in))
Landing after the first flight (19 April 2021)
First color aerial photo (22 April 2021, altitude 5.2 m (17 ft), flight 2)
Flight 3, rover is seen left-up from the 5.0 m (16.4 ft) height
Flight 3, the rover (enlarged)
Heading towards Airfield B (flight 4, 30 April 2021)
Flight 5, altitude 10 m (33 ft) (7 May 2021)
Perseverance rover (left) viewed about 85 m (279 ft) away from 5.0 m (16.4 ft) height (April 25, 2021)
Flights 6–9
Flight 6, view from 10 m (33 ft) towards Séítah
Flight 7, above the terrain (8 June 2021)
Flight 8, landed (22 June 2021)
Flight 9, flying over the Séítah (July 5, 2021)
Flights 10–13
Flight 10 over ridges
Flight 11 NW along Séítah
Flight 12 over Séítah
Flight 13 rover view
After conjunction: preflight tests and flights 14-16
The first ground photo after conjunction (sol 236)
Slow speed blade rotation test (sol 240)
Flight 14: a short hop
Flight 15 (6 November 2021)
Flight 16 (21 November 2021)
Post-flight 16 rover view
Miscellaneous animations
First flight (19 April 2021)
30 seconds hovering in the first flight
Landing after fifth flight at Airfield B (7 May 2021)
Flight 9, animation from the flight images
Flight 11 rover
Flight 11 ten slides
Pre-flight blade speed rotation test on sol 204

Self-portraits by Perseverance[g]

Mars 2020 in Jezero crater on Mars — Self-portraits of the Perseverance rover showing Ingenuity helicopter
Ingenuity helicopter drop site, Wright Brothers Field
(April 2021)
Aircraft certification of Ingenuity to fly on Mars
Chief Pilot Håvard Fjær Grip, entering Ingenuity flight details in logbook
"Nominal Pilot's Logbook for Planets and Moons"
Ingenuity logbook entries for flights 9 and 10
Ingenuity's first flight altimeter data showing the flight period
(19 April 2021)
Ingenuity's second flight test data[h]
(22 April 2021)
Mars Helicopter JPL insignia

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Flights 1, 2 and 14 are not seen because they include little, if any, horizontal movement.
  2. ^ Numbers in chart are calculated by adding values from successive flights, starting with base values as shown in this NASA/JPL[53] update with regular updates of elements in flight table like this.
  3. ^ Now named Van Zyl overlook
  4. ^ HiRISE's view of Ingenuity's fourth flight path paving the way for it to move to second airfield on its fifth flight
  5. ^ All images taken by Ingenuity are from either its black-and-white downward-facing navigation camera[143] or from horizon-facing color camera;[152] landing legs are seen at the side edges of images
  6. ^ Perseverance Rover wheels are clearly seen in top corners
  7. ^ Only the self-portraits of Perseverance showing Ingenuity
  8. ^ This is an animated gif containing sequence of images on second test flight. First image shows Ingenuity's rotor power during flight two. Second image shows Ingenuity's horizontal position relative to start during flight one hover. Third image shows Ingenuity's collective control during flight one. Fourth image shows Ingenuity's lower cyclic control on flight one. Similar cyclic controls applied on the upper rotor. Fifth image shows Ingenuity's estimate of vertical velocity during flight two.

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: "Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Landing Press Kit" (PDF). NASA. January 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: "Mars Helicopter". mars.nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 16 April 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Mars Lander Missions". NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Distance Travelled By NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter (December 15, 2021)", Mars 2020 Mission Tracker, retrieved 15 December 2021{{citation}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ AFP Staff Writers (19 April 2021). "Ingenuity helicopter successfully flew on Mars: NASA". Mars Daily. ScienceDaily. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  6. ^ a b Palca, Joe (19 April 2021). "Success! NASA's Ingenuity Makes First Powered Flight On Mars". National Public Radio. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  7. ^ Hotz, Robert Lee (19 April 2021). "NASA's Mars Helicopter Ingenuity Successfully Makes Historic First Flight". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Generation of Mars Helicopter Rotor Model for Comprehensive Analyses Archived 1 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Witold J. F. Koning, Wayne Johnson, Brian G. Allan; NASA 2018
  9. ^ "Ingenuity Spots Rover Tracks During Ninth Flight". NASA. 12 July 2021.
  10. ^ a b c Clarke, Stephen (14 May 2018). "Helicopter to accompany NASA's next Mars rover to Red Planet". Spaceflight Now.
  11. ^ a b c Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: "Mars Helicopter Fact Sheet" (PDF). NASA. February 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  12. ^ a b Decision expected soon on adding helicopter to Mars 2020, Jeff Fout, SpaceNews 4 May 2018
  13. ^ a b Chang, Kenneth (30 April 2021). "NASA's Mars Helicopter Flies Again and Gets a New Mission - Ahead of a successful fourth flight, the agency announced that Ingenuity would continue to fly beyond its original month-long mission". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  14. ^ Strickland, Ashley (30 April 2021). "After fourth successful flight, Mars helicopter gets a new mission". CNN. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  15. ^ Chang, Kenneth (23 June 2020). "Mars Is About to Have Its "Wright Brothers Moment" – As part of its next Mars mission, NASA is sending an experimental helicopter to fly through the red planet's thin atmosphere". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 June 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  16. ^ Leone, Dan (19 November 2015). "Elachi Touts Helicopter Scout for Mars Sample-Caching Rover". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 21 January 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Mars Helicopter Technology Demonstrator Archived 1 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine J. (Bob) Balaram, Timothy Canham, Courtney Duncan, Matt Golombek, Håvard Fjær Grip, Wayne Johnson, Justin Maki, Amelia Quon, Ryan Stern, and David Zhu; American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) SciTech Forum Conference 8–12 January 2018 Kissimmee, Florida doi:10.2514/6.2018-0023
  18. ^ Mars Rover Perseverance Set To Launch Drone. Today (American TV program). 24 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021 – via YouTube.
  19. ^ hang, Kenneth (23 March 2021). "Get Ready for the First Flight of NASA's Mars Helicopter - The experimental vehicle named Ingenuity traveled to the red planet with the Perseverance rover, which is also preparing for its main science mission". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  20. ^ Johnson, Alana; Hautaluoma, Grey; Agle, DC (23 March 2021). "NASA Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Prepares for First Flight". NASA. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  21. ^ a b "NASA's Mars Helicopter: Small, Autonomous Rotorcraft To Fly On Red Planet" Archived 10 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Shubham Sharma, International Business Times, 14 May 2018
  22. ^ a b c Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: "Mars Helicopter a new challenge for flight" (PDF). NASA. July 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  23. ^ Chang, Kenneth (19 April 2021). "NASA's Mars Helicopter Achieves First Flight on Another World - The experimental Ingenuity vehicle completed the short but historic up-and-down flight on Monday morning". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 28 December 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  24. ^ a b Status 290.
  25. ^ First Flight of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter: Live from Mission Control. NASA. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021 – via YouTube.
  26. ^ a b "Mars Helicopter completed full-speed spin test". Twitter. NASA. 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  27. ^ Mccurdy, Christen (17 April 2021). "Mars Ingenuity flight scheduled for Monday, NASA says". Mars Daily. ScienceDaily. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  28. ^ mars.nasa.gov. "NASA's Perseverance Captures Video, Audio of Fourth Ingenuity Flight". NASA's Mars Exploration Program. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  29. ^ a b Gorman, Steve (19 April 2021). "NASA scores Wright Brothers moment with first helicopter flight on Mars". Reuters. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  30. ^ Gallentine, Jay (20 April 2021). "The First Flight On Another World Wasn't on Mars. It Was on Venus, 36 Years Ago - Cool as it is, Ingenuity does not mark the dawn of extraterrestrial aviation". Air & Space/Smithsonian. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  31. ^ a b c d e Status 334.
  32. ^ a b Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Mars Helicopter Scout. video presentation at Caltech
  33. ^ a b "#MarsHelicopter pushes its Red Planet limits". Twitter. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  34. ^ a b c First Flight on Another Planet!. Veritasium. 10 August 2019. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020 – via YouTube.
  35. ^ September 2017, Tim Sharp 12 (12 September 2017). "Mars' Atmosphere: Composition, Climate & Weather". Space.com. Retrieved 10 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  36. ^ Bachman, Justin (19 April 2021). "Why flying a helicopter on Mars is a big deal". phys.org. Retrieved 21 April 2021. Indeed, flying close to the surface of Mars is the equivalent of flying at more than 87,000 feet on Earth, essentially three times the height of Mount Everest, NASA engineers said. The altitude record for a helicopter flight on Earth is 41,000 feet.
  37. ^ a b https://jpl.nasa.gov. "6 Things to Know About NASA's Mars Helicopter on Its Way to Mars". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Retrieved 21 January 2021. {{cite web}}: External link in |last= (help)
  38. ^ Grip, Håvard Fjær; Lam, Johnny N. (2019). "Flight Control System for NASA's Mars Helicopter" (PDF). NASA/JPL. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  39. ^ a b NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter's Next Steps. Media briefing. NASA/JPL. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021 – via YouTube.
  40. ^ "How NASA Designed a Helicopter That Could Fly Autonomously on Mars". IEEE Spectrum. 17 February 2021. Archived from the original on 19 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  41. ^ Matthies, Bayard; Delaune, Conway (2019). "Vision-Based Navigation for the NASA Mars Helicopter". AIAA Scitech 2019 Forum (1411): 3. doi:10.2514/6.2019-1411. ISBN 978-1-62410-578-4. S2CID 86460806.
  42. ^ a b On Mars, the amazing design of the radio link between Ingenuity and the Perseverance rover (in French). Université de Rennes. 10 April 2021. Event occurs at 00:07:27 – via YouTube.
  43. ^ a b c Preston Lerner (April 2019). "A Helicopter Dreams of Mars". Air & Space/Smithsonian. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  44. ^ a b Status 293.
  45. ^ a b Status 294.
  46. ^ a b c d e f Status 297.
  47. ^ Status 287.
  48. ^ Status 288.
  49. ^ Status 301.
  50. ^ a b c Status 313.
  51. ^ a b c d e f g h i Status 308.
  52. ^ a b c d Status 316.
  53. ^ a b c d e Status 321.
  54. ^ a b Status 295.
  55. ^ Status 298.
  56. ^ a b c d Status 305.
  57. ^ a b Status 314.
  58. ^ "How NASA Designed a Helicopter That Could Fly Autonomously on Mars". IEEE Spectrum. 17 February 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  59. ^ science, Tom MetcalfeTom Metcalfe writes about; News, space for NBC. "First 'space helicopter' set to take to Martian skies". NBC News. Retrieved 11 October 2021. {{cite web}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  60. ^ "Open Source on Mars: Community powers NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter". GitHub. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  61. ^ Status 299.
  62. ^ a b c Status 318.
  63. ^ "Space Foundation Selects NASA JPL Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Flight Team To Receive 2021 John L. 'Jack' Swigert Jr. Award for Space Exploration". Space Foundation. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  64. ^ J. Balaram and P. T. Tokumaru, "Rotorcrafts for Mars Exploration", in 11th International Planetary Probe Workshop, 2014, Bibcode 2014LPICo1795.8087B https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014LPICo1795.8087B/abstract Archived 17 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine
  65. ^ Benjamin T. Pipenberg, Matthew Keennon, Jeremy Tyler, Bart Hibbs, Sara Langberg, J. (Bob) Balaram, Håvard F. Grip and Jack Pempejian, "Design and Fabrication of the Mars Helicopter Rotor, Airframe, and Landing Gear Systems Archived 21 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine", American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), SciTech Forum Conference; 7–11 January 2019, San Diego, California
  66. ^ Berger, Eric (24 May 2016). "Four wild technologies lawmakers want NASA to pursue". ARS Technica. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  67. ^ Dubois, Chantelle (29 November 2017). "Drones on Mars? NASA Projects May Soon Use Drones for Space Exploration". All About Circuits. Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  68. ^ NASA Mars exploration efforts turn to operating existing missions and planning sample return, Jeff Foust, SpaceNews, 23 February 2018
  69. ^ NASA to decide soon whether flying drone will launch with Mars 2020 rover Archived 21 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine Stephen Clark Spaceflight Now 15 March 2018
  70. ^ Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Mars Helicopter to Fly on NASA's Next Red Planet Rover Mission Archived 11 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine Karen Northon, NASA, 11 May 2018
  71. ^ Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Agle, AG; Johnson, Alana (28 March 2019). "NASA's Mars Helicopter Completes Flight Tests". NASA. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  72. ^ Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  73. ^ a b Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: "Mars 2020 Perseverance Launch Press Kit" (PDF). NASA. 24 June 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 July 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  74. ^ Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Hautaluoma, Grey; Johnson, Alana; Agle, D.C. (29 April 2020). "Alabama High School Student Names NASA's Mars Helicopter". NASA. Archived from the original on 30 April 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  75. ^ Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Agle, D.C.; Cook, Jia-Rui; Johnson, Alana (29 April 2020). "Q&A with the Student Who Named Ingenuity, NASA's Mars Helicopter". NASA. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  76. ^ Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: "Astronomy Picture of the Day". NASA. 2 March 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  77. ^ a b Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: "Mars Helicopter to Fly on NASA's Next Red Planet Rover Mission". NASA. 11 May 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  78. ^ Chang, Kenneth. "A Helicopter on Mars? NASA Wants to Try". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 May 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  79. ^ Gush, Loren (11 May 2018). "NASA is sending a helicopter to Mars to get a bird's-eye view of the planet – The Mars Helicopter is happening". The Verge. Archived from the original on 6 December 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  80. ^ Review on space robotics: Toward top-level science through space exploration Archived 21 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine Y. Gao, S. Chien – Science Robotics, 2017
  81. ^ Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: "NASA's Mars Helicopter Reports In". NASA. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  82. ^ Ianson, Meyer, p. 8.
  83. ^ Status 289.
  84. ^ a b c Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Preflight Briefing (press conference livestreamed on YouTube). NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 9 April 2021.
  85. ^ "Breaking: Mars Helicopter Is Now A Fully Operational Partner Of Perseverance". IFLScience. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  86. ^ Gohd, Chelsea (30 April 2021). "NASA extends Mars helicopter Ingenuity's high-flying mission on Red Planet". Space.com. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  87. ^ a b "Ingenuity Is So Good, NASA's Mars Helicopter Mission Just Got an Exciting Update". Science Alert. 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  88. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Where is Perseverance?". NASA. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  89. ^ "NASA's Mars Helicopter Survives First Cold Martian Night on Its Own". Nasa Mars Website.
  90. ^ Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Agle, D.C.; Hautaluoma, Gray; Johnson, Alana (23 June 2020). "How NASA's Mars Helicopter Will Reach the Red Planet's Surface". NASA. Archived from the original on 19 February 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  91. ^ a b "Ingenuity's First Color Snap". NASA. 5 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  92. ^ Griffith, Andrew (8 April 2021). "NASA Unlocks Mars Helicopter's Rotor Blades Ahead Of Pioneering Ingenuity Flight". The Independent. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  93. ^ Bartels, Meghan (8 April 2021). "Mars helicopter Ingenuity unlocks its rotor blades to prepare for 1st flight on Red Planet". Space.com. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  94. ^ "Ingenuity Begins to Spin Its Blades". NASA's Mars Exploration Program. NASA. 9 April 2021.
  95. ^ "Mars Helicopter has moved its blades & spun to 50 rpm". Twitter. NASA JPL. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  96. ^ Status 291.
  97. ^ Status 292.
  98. ^ "NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter to Begin New Demonstration Phase". NASA. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  99. ^ mars.nasa.gov. "Solar Conjunction | Mars in our Night Sky". NASA's Mars Exploration Program. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  100. ^ "NASA's Mars Fleet Lies Low As Sun Moves Between Earth and Red Planet". NASA. 28 September 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  101. ^ "The 10 flights of NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter in one chart". Business Insider Australia. 29 July 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  102. ^ "After Six Months On Mars, NASA's Tiny Helicopter Is Still Flying High". NDTV. 5 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  103. ^ https://www.upi.com/amp/Science_News/2021/12/09/NASA-Mars-helicopter-Ingenuity-tearful-farewell/1401639000891/
  104. ^ Witze, Alexandra (2021). "Lift off! First flight on Mars launches new way to explore worlds". Nature. 592 (7856): 668–669. Bibcode:2021Natur.592..668W. doi:10.1038/d41586-021-00909-z. PMID 33875875. S2CID 233308286. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  105. ^ "Mars helicopter's first flight could happen on Monday". CNN. Ingenuity could fly four days after the first flight, then three days after the second flight and so on.
  106. ^ mars.nasa.gov. "NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Logs Second Successful Flight". NASA's Mars Exploration Program. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  107. ^ a b "NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Flies Faster, Farther on Third Flight". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  108. ^ Chang, Kenneth (25 April 2021). "'Nothing Short of Amazing': NASA Mars Helicopter Makes Longest Flight Yet - Ingenuity made a 328-foot round-trip journey, helping to demonstrate the capability of the vehicle's navigation system". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  109. ^ "Aim high, and fly, fly again". Twitter. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  110. ^ Wall, Mike (29 April 2021). "Mars helicopter Ingenuity misses takeoff for 4th flight on Red Planet - NASA's team is assessing what happened". Space.com. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  111. ^ "With Goals Met, NASA to Push Envelope With Ingenuity Mars Helicopter". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 29 April 2021.
  112. ^ "NASA's Perseverance Captures Video, Audio of Fourth Ingenuity Flight". NASA. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  113. ^ May 2021, Mike Wall 08 (8 May 2021). "NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity lands at new airfield after 5th flight". Space.com. Retrieved 9 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  114. ^ Chang, Kenneth (7 May 2021). "NASA Mars Helicopter Makes One-Way Flight to New Mission – Ingenuity has flown almost flawlessly through the red planet's thin air and will now assist the science mission of the Perseverance rover". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  115. ^ Kooser, Amanda (27 May 2021). "NASA Mars Ingenuity helicopter survives 'in-flight anomaly' on sixth flight". Cnet. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  116. ^ May 2021, Mike Wall 27 (27 May 2021). "Mars helicopter Ingenuity experiences anomaly on 6th flight, but lands safely". Space.com. Retrieved 10 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  117. ^ Strickland, Ashley (28 May 2021). "Mars helicopter survives to tell the tale of stressful flight". CNN. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  118. ^ "Another successful flight". Twitter. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  119. ^ a b c "Flight Log". Mars Helicopter Tech Demo. NASA. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  120. ^ Status 306.
  121. ^ Wall, Mike (9 June 2021). "Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces 7th flight on the Red Planet". Space.com. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  122. ^ "NASA JPL on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  123. ^ @nasajpl (5 July 2021). "MarsHelicopter pushes its Red Planet limits" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  124. ^ Malik, Tariq (26 July 2021). "NASA's Mars helicopter soars past 1-mile mark in 10th flight over Red Planet". Space.com.
  125. ^ Bendix, Aria (24 July 2021). "NASA's Mars helicopter nailed its 10th flight — double what engineers had hoped Ingenuity would do". Business Insider. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  126. ^ "#MarsHelicopter has safely flown to a new location!". Twitter. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  127. ^ "#With help from thomas_appere's rectified color images, I now have the rough locations of #MarsHelicopter's shadow in all 8 color images". Twitter. Retrieved 2 September 2021.. See also a map from Twitter and another map published at unmannedspaceflight.com.
  128. ^ @JPL (17 August 2021). "A dozen for the books!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  129. ^ Status 329.
  130. ^ "rotor spin test at 2,800 rpm. Next up – flight 14". Twitter.
  131. ^ Status 336.
  132. ^ @NASAJPL (22 October 2021). "Now that conjunction is over" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  133. ^ "Mars Helicopter Flight Log". Mars Helicopter. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  134. ^ @NASAJPL (25 October 2021). "Flight 14 completed" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  135. ^ Status 341.
  136. ^ Status 343.
  137. ^ @NASAJPL (8 November 2021). "The #MarsHelicopter successfully completed its 15th flight" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  138. ^ Status 346.
  139. ^ Status 349.
  140. ^ Status 350.
  141. ^ @NASAJPL (17 December 2021). "The #MarsHelicopter keeps going, going, going!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  142. ^ "Mars Helicopter". Mars Helicopter Tech Demo. NASA. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  143. ^ a b c "Raw Images From Ingenuity Helicopter". NASA. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021. (NAV images)
  144. ^ "Raw Images. Filtering: Mars Helicopter Tech Demo Cameras: Navigation Camera". Mars 2020 Mission Perseverance Rover. NASA. 18 April 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  145. ^ a b "Raw Images. Filtering: Mars Helicopter Tech Demo Cameras: Navigation Camera". Mars 2020 Mission Perseverance Rover. NASA. 15 August 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  146. ^ "Raw Images. Filtering: Mars Helicopter Tech Demo Cameras: Navigation Camera". Mars 2020 Mission Perseverance Rover. NASA. 4 September 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  147. ^ a b Mars Helicopter Sol 263: Color Camera
  148. ^ a b Mars Helicopter Sol 274: Color Camera
  149. ^ "Raw Images. Filtering:Mars Helicopter Tech Demo Cameras: Navigation Camera". Mars 2020 Mission Perseverance Rover. NASA. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  150. ^ "Mars 2020 Jezero Crater Landing Site Controlled Orthomosaics". USGS.
  151. ^ Jet Propulsion Laboratory (26 August 2021). "NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter sees potential Martian "road" ahead". SciTechDaily. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  152. ^ a b "Raw Images From Ingenuity Helicopter". NASA. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021. (RTE images)
  153. ^ Harwood, William. "NASA's Ingenuity helicopter makes maiden flight on Mars in a "Wright brothers moment"". CBS News. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  154. ^ Potter, Sean (23 March 2021). "NASA Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Prepares for First Flight". NASA.
  155. ^ "NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Succeeds in Historic First Flight". Mars Exploration Program. NASA. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  156. ^ Amos, Jonathan (19 April 2021). "NASA successfully flies small helicopter on Mars". BBC.
  157. ^ Strickland, Ashley. "NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity successfully completed its historic first flight". CNN. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  158. ^ Johnson, Alana; Hautaluoma, Grey; Agle, DC; Northon, Karen (19 April 2021). "Release 21-039 - NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Succeeds in Historic First Flight". NASA. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  159. ^ Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: "Mars Helicopter a new challenge for flight" (PDF). NASA. July 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  160. ^ a b "Mars Science Helicopter". spacenews.com. Space News. Retrieved 24 June 2020.

Status reports

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ingenuity helicopter.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ingenuity_(helicopter)&oldid=1063074836"