On April 9, 49, after an investigation to diagnose the frustration experienced during rotation-testing of congenital blades (see details in article below)^I Martyrdom Day of Firmness (In view of the take-off to begin on April 11), NASA Determined that an update to the flight control software was required. The space agency says “minor” changes are likely.

“While developing new software changes is straightforward, the process of validating and completing its upload to Ingenuity will take some time.” Notify Jpl. This is only a story of days, even weeks. patience.

Meanwhile, all the vital signs of the drone-helicopter responsible for taking the first controlled flight in history on another planet are “stationary” at this station. The investigation is on.

“It is no surprise that such a technology poses performance challenges that must work in real time.” NASA explains.

March: Why was Ingenuity’s flight postponed?

Article by Remy décourt Published on 12 April 2021

Originally scheduled for this weekend, Natal performance flight April 14 has been postponed. NASA delayed this flight, which can be attributed as a historical reason Discrepancy During the last test, which was to be seen as a bladeHelicopter Spin at some 2,400 revolutions per minute. As NASA explained in its press release, during this large rotation test SpeedWhen switching from pre-flight mode to the on-board computer flight mode ended earlier than expected due to a discrepancy. Simplicity has gone into safety mode. A security procedure, ” Safe mode It is common for most space systems to be associated with a domino effect to avoid other breakdowns or poor effects.

Via Perseverance, the helicopter transmit all its Telemetry, Which should allow ground controllers to properly understand what happened.

Frequent and long flights

During this first flight, Simplicity You should rise three short meters above your take-off zone and stay at that height for about 40 seconds before touching the bottom. If this first flight goes well, Ingenuity can make four more flights by early May. In flights two and three, Ingenuity should be more ambitious and climb up to five meters and move about 50 meters downstream of its position, that is, stay away strongly to avoid any risk.

With the last two attempts, NASA has planned more ambitious, even daring flights, but without clearly specifying the objectives matter Travel time and flight cap. Note that due to a communication time of several minutes between the two planets, Ingenuity cannot be controlled remotely. The helicopter’s on-board computer has the program set up for various flights, but NASA can update them if necessary and at any time.

These additional flights are subject to proper functioning Solar panel Ingenuity and Ingenuity’s Internal Heating, guarantor Resistance Freezing of on-board electronics, whose temperature can fall to -90 ° C night. By far, the lowest temperature strongly measured was −83 ° C.