ABE PECK, Executive Editor, Inside Unmanned Systems
In Part One of “Inside Ingenuity with AeroVironment Designing It,” key personnel from the company talked about designing and developing Ingenuity’s airframe and some of its major subsystems, including its rotor blades and hub and control mechanism hardware. They also discussed how AeroVironment worked with JPL, Lockheed Martin and others to integrate its work into a vehicle capable of reaching and operating on Mars.
Now, in Part Two ”Challenges Overcome” the engineering team recalls surmounting obstacles so Ingenuity and its 4-foot rotor blades could master the ultra-thin atmosphere of the red planet.
NASA Expands Mars Helicopter Mission After Successful Test Flights
May 09, 2021
NASA s Mars helicopter Ingenuity makes its first flight on the planet, April 19, 2021. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Handout via REUTERS)
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mission after the experimental aircraft successfully completed several test flights.
The helicopter, named Ingenuity, made history last month by becoming the first aircraft to perform a powered, controlled flight on another planet.
Mission controllers say the helicopter has performed above expectations in all four of its test flights so far. While many test flights were carried out on Earth, Ingenuity was launched to demonstrate that a small helicopter could actually fly on Mars.
May 10, 2021
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter completed its fifth flight on the Red Planet today with its first one-way journey from Wright Brothers Field to an airfield 129m to the south.
After arrival above its new airfield, Ingenuity climbed to an altitude record of 10m and captured high-resolution color images of its new neighborhood before touching down.
The flight represents the rotorcraft’s transition to its new operations demonstration phase.
This phase will focus on investigating what kind of capabilities a rotorcraft operating from Mars can provide. Examples include scouting, aerial observations of areas not accessible by a rover, and detailed stereo imaging from atmospheric altitudes.
Ingenuity helicopter makes its first one-way flight on Mars
After the first return flights, now it s time to start exploring Mars!
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It came, it saw, it conquered after four successful return flights, Ingenuity (the first man-made machine to take flight on another planet) is now embarking on a new adventure: flying from place to place, accompanying the Perseverance rover, and studying Mars from above.
Ingenuity flying, as seen by Perseverance. Image credits: NASA / JPL.
There’s a drone on Mars
Ingenuity was meant to be just a proof of concept, a stepping stone for future missions. But it already is more than just that.
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Cullen Desforges
May 10th, 2021
The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter takes flight for a fifth time to move to another airfield ahead of the expected traverse path of the Perseverance rover. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Last week, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter successfully took to the Martial skies, once again proving its capabilities as a fully-functioning aircraft by starting a new demonstration phase.
The helicopter took to the skies at 3:26 p.m. EDT (19:26 UTC, 12:33 p.m. local Martian time) May 7, 2021, with data relayed back to earth at around 7:30 p.m. EDT (23:30 UTC). While the first four flights of Ingenuity were experimental in nature, the fifth flight set out to prove Ingenuity as a functioning aircraft on another planet by taking a one-way trip.