Ingenuity, a technology test, is preparing to attempt its first controlled flight, on the Red Planet.
When NASA’s Perseverance rover lands on Mars on February 18, 2021, there will be a small but powerful passenger: Ingenuity, a Mars Helicopter.
The helicopter, which weighs about 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms) on Earth and has a fuselage about the size of a tweed box, started six years ago as an incredible sight. Engineers at NASA’s Jet Deployment Laboratory in Southern California knew that it was theoretically possible to fly in the shallow atmosphere of Mars, but no one was sure if they could build a vehicle powerful enough to fly, communications , and survive independently with the real limitations of its mass. .
The team then had to prove in experiments on Earth that it could fly in a Mars-like environment. Now that they have confirmed these goals, the team is preparing to test innovation in the real environment of Mars.
“Our Mars Helicopter team has been doing things that have never been done before – that no one at first could be sure could do,” said MiMi Aung, innovation project manager at JPL “We faced many challenges. that could stop us. We are delighted that we are now so close to showing – on Mars – what innovation can do. ”
The innovation lasted the intense vibrations of launch on July 30, 2020, and has passed its health checks while awaiting a collapse with Sustainability through the Martian atmosphere. But the helicopter will not attempt its first flight for more than a month after landing: Engineers for the rover and the helicopter need time to make sure both robots are ready.
Here are the main things you can know about innovation as the build builds:
1. Innovation is an experimental flight test.
Mars Helicopter is the so-called technology demonstration – a narrow-focus project that is trying to test new capability for the first time. Previous state-of-the-art technology demonstrations included the first Mars rover, Sojourner, and the CubeSats Mars Cube One (MarCO) that flew Mars.
The helicopter has no science instruments and is not part of the Perseverance science mission. The goal of Ingenuity is an engineering one: to show rotorcraft flight in Mars’ very thin atmosphere, which contains only about 1% of the density of our atmosphere on Earth.
Innovation will attempt up to five test trips within a 30-Martian-day (31-Earth-day) demonstration window. His progressive ambitions are similar to the goals of the Wright brothers ’Flyer, which achieved its first controlled flight, on Earth.
2. Mars won’t be easy for Ingenuity to attempt its first controlled flight, on another planet.
Because Mars’ atmosphere is so thin, an invention is designed to be lightweight, with rotor blades that are much larger and spin much faster than would be necessary for a helicopter of Ingenuity masses on Earth.
The Red Planet also has bone cold temperatures, with nights as cold as less than 130 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 90 degrees Celsius) at Jezero Crater, a rover and helicopter site. That temperature pushes the original design boundaries of the off-the-shelf parts used in innovation. Tests on Earth at the expected temperature show that Ingenuity parts should work as designed, but the team is looking forward to the actual test on Mars.
“Mars isn’t just pulling out the welcome blanket,” said Tim Canham, director of Ingenuity operations at JPL. “One of the first things he needs to do when he arrives at Mars is to survive his first night.”
3. Innovation relies on the Mars 2020 Sustainability mission for safe travel to Mars and for operations on the surface of the Red Planet.
An invention is nestled on all sides under the Sustainability trail with a cover to protect it from debris kicked at the time of landing. Both the rover and the helicopter are safely mounted inside a clamshell-like spacecraft entry capsule during the 293-million-mile (471-million-kilometer) mission to Mars. The power system on the Mars 2020 spacecraft will periodically charge Ingenuity batteries en route there.
To reach the Martian surface, ingenuity rides with Sustainability as it lands. The rover’s entry, rescue and deployment system includes a supersonic parachute, new “brains” for independently avoiding hazards, and components for the movement of the spacecraft, which will reduce the move to Mars from a rescue vehicle . Only about 50% of attempts to land on Mars, with any space agency, were successful.
As soon as a suitable site for locating the helicopter is found, the rover’s Mars Helicopter Delivery System peels off the cover, turns the helicopter into a down-foot configuration, and lowers Ingenuity to gently surfaced in the first few months after landing. Through the commissioning and testing campaign of the helicopter, the rover will assist in the communication back and forth from Earth. The rover team also plans to collect images of Ingenuity.
4. There is a smart innovation for a small robot.
Delays are an essential part of communicating with spacecraft over interplanetary distances, which means that JPL’s Ingenuity flight controllers will not be able to control the helicopter with a reception schedule. Of course, they will not be able to view engineering data or images from each flight until long after the flight.
So Ingenuity will make some of its own decisions based on parameters set by their engineers on Earth. The helicopter, for example, has a type of programmed thermostat that keeps it warm on Mars. During the flight, Ingenuity will analyze sensor data and images of the terrain to ensure it stays on the flight path designed by project engineers.
5. The innovation team counts the success of one step at a time.
Due to the experimental nature of Ingenuity, the team has a long list of milestones that the helicopter must reach before they can take off and land in the spring of 2021. The team marks each milestone:
- Survive the voyage to Mars and land on the Red Planet
- Moves safely to the surface from within Perseverance
- Automatically keeps warm through the very cold Martian nights
- Automatically cuts itself with the solar panel at the top of its rotors
- Successfully communicates to and from a helicopter through a subsystem called Mars Helicopter Base Station on the rover
If the first experimental flight test on another planet is successful, the Ingenuity team will attempt more test missions.
6. If innovation succeeds, future Mars exploration could include a positive aerial side.
Innovations is expected to feature world-class technologies and operations required for flight in the Martian atmosphere. If successful, these technologies and the experience of flying a helicopter on another planet could enable other advanced robotic flying vehicles that could be part of future robotic and human missions. to Mars. Possible future use of a helicopter on Mars involves offering a unique viewpoint not provided by conventional orbiters high above them or by rovers and landers. on the ground; high-definition and predictive images for robots or humans; and access to land that is difficult for walkers to reach. Helicopters in the future could help transport light but vital payloads from one site to another.
More about the project
JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, will manage the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter technology demonstration for NASA. JPL also leads the Mars 2020 Sustainability project for NASA.
More on innovation can be found in its online newsletter:
go.nasa.gov/ingenuity-press-kit
A news pack for coming to Perseverance can be found at:
go.nasa.gov/perseverance-landing-press-kit
Contact news media
Cook Jia-Rui
Jet Dedication Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0724
[email protected]
Alana Johnson / Gray Hautaluoma
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-672-4780 / 202-358-0668
[email protected]/[email protected]