The helicopter returned data to the mission teams on Earth on Friday evening that caused NASA to reschedule the first flight. The team reports that the helicopter remains healthy and safe and shares all its data.
The wit conducted a high-speed test of its rotors on Friday. During this test, the script ended soon due to a monitoring timer that expired.
This first end of the test occurred when the helicopter was trying to change the flight computer from the pre-flight control.
The timer controls the script and, if a problem arises, alerts the system and keeps the helicopter safe by turning it off until the problem can be resolved.
In this case, the timer did exactly what it was supposed to do, according to the agency.
Meanwhile, the helicopter team on Earth is reviewing the data so they can determine the problem that closed the test. Following this overhaul, the high speed test of the helicopter rotors will be rescheduled.
When the craft can fly to Mars for the first time, the 4-pound helicopter will fly for about 40 seconds in total. The helicopter will rotate its two 4-foot blades, rise 3 meters in the air, glide, make a turn, take a picture, and touch Mars again.
If that first flight is successful, Ingenuity could fly up to four more times this month.
He now has to fly autonomously through the thin Martian atmosphere, without the help of his equipment on Earth. Radio signals take 15 minutes and 27 seconds to cross the current gap between Earth and Mars, which spans 278.4 million kilometers.
The Perseverance rover, which helps the helicopter and its mission team on Earth communicate with each other, will receive flight instructions from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The rover will send these planes to the helicopter. Perseverance will park at a 65-meter view from the helicopter so you can watch the flight safely and capture images and videos.