Ingenuity on historic 1st powered flight on another world

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Flight 17 – Discovering Limits - NASA Science

Flight 17 Updates

mars.nasa.gov

Topography Between Mars Helicopter and Rover for Flight 17:

In this annotated image, Ingenuity’s flight path is depicted in yellow. Perseverance’s location is indicated in the upper left, with the blue line depicting its line of sight to the helicopter’s Flight 17 landing spot. The topographic map below it indicates the altitude of surface features between the rover and helicopter. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›
December 9, 2021, Update:
On Wednesday (Sol 285 in Perseverance’s mission on Mars) the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter relayed additional information on its status. The limited data that was received indicates power aboard the rotorcraft is excellent, which suggests it is in an upright stance, allowing its solar array to efficiently power its six lithium-ion batteries. However, the same line-of-sight issues the team believes impeded communications at the end of Flight 17 still prevented the majority of data packets (including imagery from the flight) to be relayed back to the rover – and then to Earth. The next opportunity for a data transfer is expected to occur sometime within the next several days.
December 7, 2021, Original Post:
Ingenuity flew for the 17th time at Mars on Sunday, Dec. 5. After the helicopter executed the planned 614-foot (187-meter) traverse to the northeast, the radio communications link between Ingenuity and the Perseverance Mars rover was disrupted during the final descent phase of the flight. Approximately 15 minutes later, Perseverance received several packets of additional Ingenuity telemetry indicating that the flight electronics and battery were healthy.

 

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NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Reaches a Total of 30 Minutes Aloft

With its recent 17th flight, the Red Planet rotorcraft reaches an airborne milestone the team never considered achievable. Its 18th flight is scheduled for no earlier than today.

www.jpl.nasa.gov

The 17th flight of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter on Dec. 5 pushed the total flight time past the 30-minute mark. The 117-second sortie brought history’s first aircraft to operate from the surface of another world closer to its original airfield, “Wright Brothers Field,” where it will await the arrival of the agency’s Perseverance Mars rover, currently exploring “South Séítah” region of Mars’ Jezero Crater.

Along with accumulating 30 minutes and 48 seconds of flight time, the trailblazing helicopter has traveled over the surface a distance of 2.2 miles (3,592 meters), flying as high as 40 feet (12 meters) and as fast as 10 mph (5 meters per second).
The rotorcraft’s status after the Dec. 5 flight was previously unconfirmed due to an unexpected cutoff to the in-flight data stream as the helicopter descended toward the surface at the conclusion of its flight. Perseverance serves as the helicopter’s communications base station with controllers on Earth. A handful of data radio packets the rover received later suggested a healthy helicopter on the surface but did not provide enough information for the team to declare a flight success.

But data downlinked to mission engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California on Friday, Dec. 10, indicates that Flight 17 was a success and that Ingenuity is in excellent condition.

The 30-minute mark far surpasses the original plans for the 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) rotorcraft. Designed as a technology demonstration to perform up to five experimental test flights, Ingenuity first flew on April 19, 2021, with a short up-and-down hop to prove powered, controlled flight on Mars was possible. The next four experimental flights expanded the rotorcraft’s flight envelope, making increasingly longer flights with more complicated maneuvering, which further helped engineers at JPL better understand its performance.

With the sixth flight, the helicopter embarked on a new operations demonstration phase, investigating how aerial scouting and other functions could benefit future exploration of Mars and other worlds. In this new chapter, the helicopter has operated from airfields well south of Wright Brothers Field, scouting rocky outcrops and other geologic features of interest to the Perseverance rover’s science team.

“Few thought we would make it to flight one, fewer still to five. And no one thought we would make it this far,” said Ingenuity Team Lead Teddy Tzanetos of JPL. “On the way to accumulating over a half-hour aloft Ingenuity has survived eight months of bitter cold, and operated out of nine unique Martian airfields. The aircraft’s continued operations speaks to the robustness the design and the diligence and passion of our small operations team.”

Flight 18
Flight 18 is scheduled to take place no earlier than today, Dec. 15, with Ingenuity covering another 754 feet (230 meters) at a speed of 5.6 mph (2.5 meters per second) over 125 seconds. The new airfield, close to the northern boundary of Séítah, will be the rotorcraft’s 10th on Mars. Data from the flight is expected to be received at JPL no earlier than in the late afternoon today.
As with the previous effort, Flight 18 will push the limits of Ingenuity’s radio range and performance. To provide it with the best chance of maintaining a link throughout landing, the Mars Helicopter team has modified the flight sequence to communicate in a low-data-rate mode, which will provide an additional signal-strength boost to the radio link.
“If we do lose radio link on landing, it may be several days or weeks until the line-of-sight between Ingenuity and Perseverance improves enough to attempt a communication session,” said Tzanetos. “While delaying our post-flight data analysis is an inconvenience, it is not unexpected and becoming the new normal as we continue to operate in challenging terrain in the weeks ahead.”

More About Ingenuity
The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages this technology demonstration project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA’s Science, Aeronautics, and Space Technology mission directorates. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity’s development. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm, and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle components. Lockheed Space in designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Delivery System.
At NASA Headquarters, Dave Lavery is the program executive for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter.

More About Perseverance
A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

 

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Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces 18th Red Planet flight (video)

Ingenuity just keeps going.

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Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces 18th Red Planet flight​

NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity has soared through alien skies yet again.

"The #MarsHelicopter keeps going, going, going! Ingenuity successfully completed its 18th flight, adding 124.3 seconds to its overall time aloft on the Red Planet," officials with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, which manages Ingenuity's pioneering mission, said via Twitter today (Dec. 17).


Ingenuity covered 754 feet (230 meters) of ground while cruising at 5.6 mph (9.0 kph) during the flight, which took place on Wednesday (Dec. 15), JPL officials added.

 

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Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces 19th flight after historic Red Planet weather delay

A dust storm pushed the liftoff date back by more than a month.

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Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces 19th flight after historic Red Planet weather delay​

A dust storm pushed the liftoff date back by more than a month.

Tuesday's flight took Ingenuity out of a rugged patch of Jezero's floor known as South Séítah, over a ridge and onto a plateau, mission team members have said. Ingenuity stayed aloft for 99.98 seconds and covered about 205 feet (62 meters) during the sortie, JPL officials said via Twitter on Tuesday.

 

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NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity helicopter aces 20th flight on Red Planet

Ingenuity keeps chugging along.

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"Flight 20 was a success! In its 130.3 seconds of flight, the #MarsHelicopter covered 391 meters [1,283 feet] at a speed of 4.4 meters per second [9.8 mph], bringing it closer to @NASAPersevere's landing location," NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the missions of both Ingenuity and Perseverance, said via Twitter on Saturday (Feb. 26).

 

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Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces 21st Red Planet flight

Flight 21 is in the books.

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Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces 21st Red Planet flight​

The Ingenuity helicopter's Red Planet flight tally is up to 21.

The 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) NASA chopper just aced another Mars sortie, agency officials announced today (March 11).

"#MarsHelicopter can’t be stopped! Ingenuity successfully completed its 21st flight on the Red Planet. The small rotorcraft traveled 370 meters [1,214 feet] at a speed of 3.85 meters per second [8.61 mph] and stayed aloft for 129.2 seconds," NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which manages Ingenuity's mission, said via Twitter today.

In February 2021, Ingenuity landed with NASA's Perseverance rover on the floor of Mars' Jezero Crater, which hosted a lake and a river delta billions of years ago. The solar-powered helicopter initially embarked upon a five-flight demonstration mission designed to show that aerial exploration is feasible on Mars despite the planet's thin atmosphere. (Mars' air is just 1% as thick as that of Earth at sea level.)

Ingenuity aced those five flights, and NASA soon granted a mission extension. During this phase, the rotorcraft has been pushing the boundaries of Red Planet flight and serving as a scout for Perseverance, whose main tasks involve hunting for signs of Mars life and collecting dozens of samples for future return to Earth.

During their first year on Mars, Ingenuity and Perseverance explored areas to the south and southwest of their landing site. Both robots are now heading back toward their touchdown zone, on the way to an accessible part of the ancient river delta.

The Perseverance team is eager to start studying the delta up close, because deltas here on Earth are good at preserving carbon-containing organic chemicals and signs of life itself.

During its 21 Martian flights, Ingenuity has stayed aloft for a total of 38.8 minutes and traveled 15,246 feet (2.89 miles; 4.65 kilometers). That's more ground than Perseverance has covered on Mars; the rover's odometer currently reads 2.73 miles (4.39 km).

 

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NASA Extends Ingenuity Helicopter Mission

With its recent 21st flight complete, the Red Planet rotorcraft is on its way to setting more records during its second year of operations.

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With its recent 21st flight complete, the Red Planet rotorcraft is on its way to setting more records during its second year of operations.

NASA has extended flight operations of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter through September. In the months ahead, history’s first aircraft to operate from the surface of another world will support the Perseverance rover’s upcoming science campaign exploring the ancient river delta of Jezero Crater. Along the way, it will continue testing its own capabilities to support the design of future Mars air vehicles.

The announcement comes on the heels of the rotorcraft’s 21st successful flight, the first of at least three needed for the helicopter to cross the northwest portion of a region known as “Séítah” and reach its next staging area.

“Less than a year ago we didn’t even know if powered, controlled flight of an aircraft at Mars was possible,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “Now, we are looking forward to Ingenuity’s involvement in Perseverance’s second science campaign. Such a transformation of mindset in such a short period is simply amazing, and one of the most historic in the annals of air and space exploration.”

 

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Mars helicopter Ingenuity soars on 22nd Red Planet flight

Ingenuity and NASA's Perseverance rover are headed toward an ancient Martian river delta.

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Mars helicopter Ingenuity soars on 22nd Red Planet flight​

NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity has done it again, soaring successfully on its 22nd Red Planet flight.



The 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) Ingenuity stayed aloft for 101.4 seconds and reached a maximum altitude of 33 feet (10 meters) during the sortie, which took place on Sunday (March 20), according to a Monday (March 21) tweet by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, which manages Ingenuity's mission.


Ingenuity and NASA's Perseverance rover landed together inside Mars' Jezero Crater in February 2021. Jezero hosted a lake and a river delta billions of years ago, making it a great spot for the life-hunting, sample-caching Perseverance to explore, NASA officials have said.

 

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Mars helicopter Ingenuity hits 23rd flight, can’t be stopped

The tiny Mars helicopter Ingenuity continues to power through its flights, exceeding all expectations.

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Mars helicopter Ingenuity hits 23rd flight, can’t be stopped​

The tiny Mars helicopter Ingenuity continues to power through its flights, exceeding all expectations. Originally slated for just five flights on the red planet, the helicopter recently completed its 23rd flight and is still going. Ingenuity is on its way to meet up with its rover companion Perseverance, and in the future, it will help the rover’s mission to search for evidence of ancient life on Mars by scouting out driving routes and objects of scientific interest.

“23 flights and counting!,” NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory wrote of the recent achievement on Twitter. “#MarsHelicopter successfully completed its 23rd excursion. It flew for 129.1 seconds over 358 meters. Data from Ingenuity in the new region it’s headed to will help the @NASAPersevere team find potential science targets.”

https://twitter.com/x/status/1507160285722804238

 

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NASA's Ingenuity helicopter makes its 24th flight on Mars

The helicopter is en route to an ancient river delta where life might have existed.

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NASA's Ingenuity helicopter makes its 24th flight on Mars​

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter captured this image of its own shadow during its 24th Martian flight, on April 3, 2022. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

It was up, up, and away last weekend for NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, which completed its 24th Martian flight on Sunday (April 3).

The sortie was just a short repositioning hop, covering 154 feet (47 meters) of ground in 69.5 seconds at a maximum altitude of 33 feet (10 m). But it was an important flight, helping reposition Ingenuity for its exit out of the Séítah region of Mars' Jezero Crater on its way to an ancient river delta, where the helicopter will work in tandem with NASA's life-hunting, sample-collecting Perseverance rover.

Sunday's flight also marked the first time the helicopter took off at a different time of day — 9:30 a.m. local mean solar time (LMST), rather than the standard 10 a.m. LMST.

Since March 10, Ingenuity has been making its way across Séítah, a region filled with hazards for little helicopters — namely rock- and dune-filled terrain that could cause the vehicle to flip upon landing. (Perseverance, on the other hand, is taking a roundabout route to avoid the uneven Mars terrain.)



The first three Séítah flights went off without a hitch, but Ingenuity's team faced a tough decision for the final leg of the journey, with three options that each presented challenges. The team ultimately chose a flight plan that included the tiny hop completed on Sunday, which put Ingenuity in an opportune position for the final flight out of Séítah, mission team members explained in a blog post on Tuesday (April 5).


That flight plan, however, required Ingenuity to fly 30 minutes earlier in the day than usual on Sunday. Because the helicopter uses its solar-powered batteries to heat itself at night, it "wakes up" with some battery depletion, which it replaces when the sun rises in the morning. Taking off earlier in the day means that Ingenuity has less time to recharge before a flight, adding to the risk.

But Ingenuity demonstrated the capability to fly earlier on Flight 24, so the helicopter is currently preparing for its exit out of Séítah; the flight instructions have already been uplinked to Mars.


Ingenuity is proving to be the little engine that could, vastly exceeding its original mission — a five-flight technology demonstration designed to show that it's possible for a helicopter to explore Mars. Since its first flight on April 19, 2021, Ingenuity has flown 23 more times, covering a total distance of 3.21 miles (5.17 kilometers).

 

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Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces record-breaking 25th flight

Ingenuity just set new personal bests for speed and distance.

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Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces record-breaking 25th flight​

NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity just flew farther and faster than it ever has before.



The 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) Ingenuity aced its 25th flight on the Red Planet last Friday (April 8), setting new personal bests for speed and distance.


"#MarsHelicopter is breaking records again! Ingenuity completed its 25th and most ambitious flight. It broke its distance and ground speed records, traveling 704 meters [2,310 feet] at 5.5 meters per second while flying for 161.3 seconds," NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, which manages Ingenuity's mission, tweeted on Tuesday (April 12).

 

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NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Captures Image of Perseverance's Backshell and Parachute on Its 26th Flight

The shots made by NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter could provide valuable insights for future missions on the Red Planet. Read on to learn the details.

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NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Captures Image of Perseverance's Backshell and Parachute on Its 26th Flight​

(Photo : NASA/JPL-Caltech) Perseverance's backshell, supersonic parachute, and associated debris field is seen strewn across the Martian surface in this image captured by NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter during its 26th flight

Ingenuity's 26th Flight​

Ingenuity Mars helicopter conducted its 26th flight on April 19 on the first anniversary of its first flight, NASA JPL reported. The helicopter flew 26 feet (8 meters) above the ground for 159 seconds and traveled 639 feet (192 meters) in the southeast direction and took its first picture.

Then it headed southwest before going to the northwest to take images off pre-planned locations along the route, taking a total of 10 images in its flash memory. Then it headed west 246 feet (75 meters) and landed, covering a total distance of 1,181 feet (360 meters) on its 26th flight. With the completion of Flight 26, Ingenuity has already logged over 49 minutes aloft and traveled3.9 miles (6.2 kilometers).

Håvard Grip, chief pilot of Ingenuity at JPL said that Ingenuity did a lot of complicated maneuvering to get the shots they needed. Taking photos of the landing spot set Flight 27 nicely to take a picture of an area of interest for the Perseverance science team.

According to NASA Mars Exploration Program, the new era of operations in the dry river delta or Jezero Crater marks the departure from the modest, flat terrain that Ingenuity had been flying over since its first flight last year. Upon reaching the delta, the first order will be to help determine the dry river channels.

Perseverance should climb to reach the top of the delta and identify geologic features too far afield for the rover to scout landing zones and sites to get samples for the Mars Sample Return program.

ALSO READ: NASA Ingenuity Helicopter Nails 20th Flight After Breaking Flying Limits

Perseverance's Backshell and Parachute​

The photos taken during Ingenuity's Flight 26 could provide more detail on the area that will help in the entry, descent, and landing of future missions, Space.com reported.

Mars Sample Return ascent phase lead Ian Clark of NASA JPL said that Perseverance is by far the best-documented Mars landing in history because of its cameras that showed everything from parachute inflation to touchdown.

But the images the rotorcraft captured offered a different vantage point, showing the conical-shaped backshell of Perseverance and the parachute used. The backshell and parachute did their job well as the Perseverance and Ingenuity's good health shows.

JPL officials said that the protective coating of the backshell has remained intact during the atmospheric entry and the lines that connect it to the parachute are visible and appear to be intact. Although only one-third of the parachute is seen in the images, the canopy shows no signs of damage from the supersonic airflow when it was inflated. But it would need several analyses to confirm this.