Jezero Crater, an ancient lake bed on Mars and the current location of the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter, can drop to temperatures as low as minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit. That is low enough to cause significant damage to the helicopter’s electrical and battery components.
The 4-pound helicopter eventually separated from the Perseverance rover’s abdomen on April 3, where it had been stored since before the rover was launched from Earth in July.
Ingenuity went through a series of movements to unfold from beneath the rover, which looked like the metamorphosis of a butterfly, before dropping the last four inches to the surface of Mars.
“This is the first time Ingenuity has been alone on the surface of Mars,” MiMi Aung, Ingenuity project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement. “But we now have confirmation that we have the right insulation, the right heaters and enough energy in the battery to survive the cold night, which is a big win for the team. We are delighted to present Ingenuity for the first time. prepare. flight test. “
Ingenuity, the first helicopter to be sent to Mars, presented a challenge to the engineers who designed it for several reasons. It had to be small enough to get under the rover without compromising Perseverance’s mission, which is the first to search for evidence of ancient microbial life on Mars.
Ingenuity also had to be lightweight to fly through the Martian atmosphere, which contains only 1% of the Earth’s atmosphere, while still having enough power to heat itself and survive the frigid Martian nights. The thin nature of the atmosphere on Mars makes it more difficult to generate lift and rise.
Shortly after Perseverance deposited Ingenuity in the center of its airfield, the rover retreated from the helicopter. This allowed the helicopter’s solar panel to capture critical sunlight.
Persistence returned images of the helicopter’s four legs sitting on the surface on April 4. The blades of the helicopter, currently stacked in alignment with each other, will be released on April 7, and the mission team on Earth will send commands to the helicopter to “wiggle” the blades.
The helicopter also has to go through some of its computers’ cash registers, allowing Ingenuity to fly autonomously through the Martian atmosphere.
With Ingenuity not borrowing power and heat from the rover, the helicopter will return information on the performance of its power and thermal control systems over the next two days. This allows the helicopter team to configure the settings necessary to ensure that Ingenuity survives the next 30 days of its mission.
Ingenuity is a technology demonstration, which means that its mission is short compared to the rover’s two-year plan to explore Jezero Crater. Now that the helicopter is on the surface of Mars, it has 31 Earth days, or 30 marssols, to perform up to five test flights.
On the first flight, the helicopter will attempt to ascend about 10 feet (3 meters) in the air from the center of the 33 by 33 feet (10 by 10 meters) flat airfield, make a turn and touch back down. The trial lasts approximately 30 seconds. Future flights will test the helicopter’s ability to fly higher and longer.
Meanwhile, the Perseverance rover will sit at a nearby vantage point and observe the flight, capturing images, video and audio. They will reach Earth in the days after the first flight.
Once Ingenuity’s journey is over, the rover will focus on its scientific mission and begin studying rocks and collecting monsters that will be returned to Earth by future missions.
“Our 30 sol test schedule is full of exciting milestones,” Teddy Tzanetos, deputy chief of operations for the Ingenuity Mars helicopter at JPL, said in a statement. “Whatever the future holds, we’ll collect all the flight data we can within that time frame.”