NASA has delayed the primary flight of its Mars helicopter Ingenuity after the car’s final take a look at ended sooner than deliberate.
Ingenuity will now stay planted firmly on the Crimson Planet’s floor till at the very least Wednesday (April 14), in keeping with an announcement from the company. The delay is available in response to an anomaly throughout a take a look at that was meant to see the helicopters blades attain flight-like speeds of two,400 revolutions per minute.
“Throughout a high-speed spin take a look at of the rotors on Friday, the command sequence controlling the take a look at ended early resulting from a ‘watchdog’ timer expiration,” NASA officers wrote in an announcement right now (April 10). “This occurred because it was making an attempt to transition the flight pc from ‘Pre-Flight’ to ‘Flight’ mode. The helicopter is protected and wholesome and communicated its full telemetry set to Earth.”
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The assertion provides that helicopter engineers are nonetheless reviewing information from the little chopper to grasp exactly what occurred, however that the crew hopes to reschedule the failed take a look at.
Ingenuity arrived on the floor of Mars on Feb. 18, ferried to the Crimson Planet as a know-how demonstration mission by NASA’s car-sized Perseverance rover. After the rover received located at its touchdown web site in Jezero Crater, it set about in search of an airfield for the helicopter’s historic flight. After arriving there, the rover set concerning the cautious means of unfolding and deploying the 4-lb. (1.8 kilograms) helicopter.
Ingenuity then needed to notch a number of milestones, together with surviving the chilly Martian evening by itself, powered by vitality its photo voltaic panels harvested. Engineers additionally unlocked the helicopter’s blades and examined them at a low velocity, simply 50 revolutions per minute.
On Friday (April 9), the helicopter tried to check its blades at full velocity, the ultimate precursor to chickening out, however that was the process that the watchdog timer minimize quick.
“The watchdog timer oversees the command sequence and alerts the system to any potential points,” NASA officers wrote within the assertion. “It helps the system keep protected by not continuing if a problem is noticed and labored as deliberate.”
Electronic mail Meghan Bartels at mbartels@house.com or observe her on Twitter @meghanbartels. Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Fb.