NASA Re-Establishes Contact with Intrepid Ingenuity Mars Helicopter After Two Months of Radio Silence

Key Highlights :

1. NASA has re-established contact with the intrepid Ingenuity Mars Helicopter after more than two months of radio silence.

2. The mini rotorcraft, which hitched a ride to the Red Planet with the Perseverance rover in early 2021, has already survived well beyond its initial 30-day mission to prove the feasibility of its technology in five test flights.

3. Since then, it has been deployed dozens of times, acting as an aerial scout to assist its wheeled companion in searching for signs of ancient microbial life from billions of years ago, when Mars was much wetter and warmer than today.

4. Ingenuity's 52nd flight launched on April 26, but mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) lost contact as it descended to the surface following its two minute, 1,191-foot (363-meter) hop.

5. The loss of communications was expected, because a hill stood between Ingenuity and Perseverance, which acts as a relay between the drone and Earth.

6. "Ingenuity is designed to take care of itself when communication gaps like this occur, but we all still had a sense of relief finally hearing back."

     NASA has re-established contact with the intrepid Ingenuity Mars Helicopter after more than two months of radio silence, the space agency announced on Friday. The mini rotorcraft, which hitched a ride to the Red Planet with the Perseverance rover in early 2021, has already survived well beyond its initial 30-day mission to prove the feasibility of its technology in five test flights.

     Ingenuity's 52nd flight launched on April 26, but mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California lost contact as it descended to the surface following its two minute, 1,191-foot (363-meter) hop. The loss of communications was expected, because a hill stood between Ingenuity and Perseverance, which acts as a relay between the drone and Earth.

     Nonetheless, "this has been the longest we've gone without hearing from Ingenuity so far in the mission," Joshua Anderson, Ingenuity team lead at JPL, told AFP. Data so far indicates that the heli is in good shape. If further health checks also come back normal, Ingenuity will be all set for its next flight, westward toward a rocky outcrop the Perseverance team is interested in exploring.

     It's not the first time Ingenuity has experienced downed communications. The heli was scouring an ancient river delta when it went missing for around six days in April, "an agonizingly long time," chief engineer Travis Brown wrote in a blog post.

     NASA has been pushing the boundaries of space exploration since its inception in 1958. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is a prime example of the agency's ingenuity and commitment to explore the unknown. With its successful re-establishment of contact with the intrepid Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, NASA continues to demonstrate its commitment to pushing the boundaries of space exploration and innovation.

Continue Reading at Source : hindustantimes