NASA carried out the seventeenth flight for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter on Sunday, December 5. Everything went as deliberate throughout the helicopter’s 614-foot traverse to the northeast. However, throughout the very last descent section of the flight, the communications hyperlink among Ingenuity and the Perseverance Mars rover changed into disrupted. It seems the helicopter changed into capable of land successfully. Approximately 15 mins after the radio hyperlink changed into lost, Perseverance acquired packets of Ingenuity telemetry indicating the battery and flight electronics had been healthy.

NASA believes the lack of the radio hyperlink changed into because of a “tough radio configuration” among Perseverance and Ingenuity throughout the helicopter’s touchdown. Telemetry facts NASA from the flight confirmed that the automobile achieved as predicted throughout the 117-2nd flight at an altitude of 33 toes above the floor of Mars. However, telemetry facts is lacking for approximately a 3rd of the very last descent from an altitude of approximately 10 toes above the Martian floor.

NASA stated earlier than it may make sure precisely what befell to motive the lack of radio hyperlink, it needed to switch the lacking facts from Flight 17 from the helicopter to Perseverance after which to Earth. NASA changed into capable of relay that facts to Earth on Wednesday of this week, and the facts indicates that strength aboard the helicopter is excellent. The degree of strength being transferred from the sun panels to the six lithium-ion batteries in the helicopter is robust sufficient that NASA believes the helicopter is in an upright stance.

However, the Ingenuity group maintains to have line-of-webweb page problems with communications, which they trust brought on the lack of telemetry facts throughout the flight. The line-of-webweb page trouble has averted the bulk of facts packets from being relayed to the rover. Outstanding facts packets additionally encompass all the imagery from the flight. NASA says that it expects an possibility to switch facts withinside the subsequent numerous days.

NASA knew Ingenuity might face demanding situations with the rugged surroundings wherein it’s presently working. The helicopter has operated a long way beyond its authentic task timeline, and it changed into firstly designed to function on flat land. Currently, it’s miles working in a place with vast elevation modifications that pose demanding situations now no longer simplest to the flight software program however to the radio sign hyperlink among Ingenuity and Perseverance.

The power of a radio sign relies upon loads on having a clean line of sight among the transmitting and receiving antennas. In rugged terrain, the road of sight can be obstructed with the aid of using huge rocks, hills, or ridges. Communications also can be obstructed if Perseverance is aligned in order that its receiver faces farfar from the helicopter. Communications demanding situations throughout this flight encompass a touchdown webweb page that positioned a hill referred to as Bras among the helicopter and the rover. The hill is simplest 13-toes tall, however that proved sufficient to abate communications.

When Flight 17 changed into deliberate, controllers believed Perseverance might be parked in a selected region, going through a selected direction. However, plans for Perseverance alternate day-to-day, and by the point Flight 17 befell, the rover changed into parked in a extraordinary region. The rover’s region positioned it at a tough heading for radio communications with Ingenuity.

The layout groups at the back of Ingenuity constructed the helicopter to deal with this sort of trouble. The helicopter changed into designed to strength down after flight and await in addition commands automatically. NASA says it believes the flight changed into a whole fulfillment noting that telemetry changed into nominal main up to date radio communications had been lost. A a success touchdown is in addition sponsored up with the aid of using the facts packets acquired 15 mins after Ingenuity changed into imagined to have landed.

Among the facts in the ones packets changed into battery voltage is indicating +seventy six millivolts, that’s a effective 1.2 percentage nation of fee boom over 15 mins. That facts indicates that the sun panels had been charging the battery, and NASA says the excessive degree of charging is simplest feasible if the automobile changed into upright with its sun array pointed on the sky.

Challenging Conditions

Ingenuity maintains working in situations above and past what it changed into firstly meant to endure. One of the largest demanding situations for endured operations changed into decreased Martian air density because the seasons modified at the Red Planet. The environment on Mars is already considerably much less dense than the environment right here on Earth. As the seasons modified, NASA needed to boom the rotor pace of Ingenuity to permit the helicopter to hold to function.

With the Martian environment turning into much less dense with the brand new season, NASA expanded the rotor pace to 2800 RPM. The better rotor pace furnished the carry had to hold working. The contemporary lack of radio conversation isn’t the primary mission that Ingenuity has overcome.

Previously, a flight changed into scrubbed in September after an trouble with a couple of servos changed into found throughout a pre-flight checkout. The servos are important to strong flight, and one principle on the time changed into that the problem would possibly imply elements of the servo gearbox and swashplate linkages had been starting to wear. However, the problem doesn’t seem to have brought on any extra troubles for Ingenuity so a long way.