NASA has lost contact with its Mars helicopter

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter is not communicating.

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Ingenuity’s operators lost contact with the 1.8kg helicopter on January 18, at the end of its 72nd mission to Mars, Space.com reported.

Data that Ingenuity sent to the Perseverance rover (acting as a relay between the helicopter and Earth) during its flight indicates that it successfully climbed to its designated maximum altitude of 40 feet (12 meters), NASA officials wrote in an update. January 19.

It is noted that communication between Ingenuity and the rover was interrupted during the planned descent of the helicopter, even before its landing.

The Ingenuity team is analyzing the available data and considering the next steps to restore communication with the helicopter, NASA notes.

Ingenuity and Perseverance sat together on Mars in February 2021 on the floor of the 45 km wide Jezero Crater, which billions of years ago contained a large lake and river delta.

The rover’s goal is to find evidence of past life on Mars and collect samples for future return to Earth. Ingenuity serves as a scout for the car-sized Mars rover, carrying out an expanded mission that NASA began after the small helicopter successfully completed its first campaign of five flights demonstrating the technology in the spring of 2021.

Perhaps now Perseverance will have to help its little relative.

Perseverance is currently out of sight of Ingenuity, but the team may consider moving closer for a visual overview, said NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the missions of both spacecraft.

Source: Space.com

Source: Racurs

David

I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.