Just a few days ago we reported on the success of the 57th flight NASA Ingenuity drone on which operations continue Mars, which far exceeds the original expectations (set at five flights). The Mars 2020 mission’s helicopter, which follows or precedes NASA’s Perseverance rover, also managed to complete the mission 58. Flightas already planned, and is already preparing to carry out the 59th flight tomorrow.
This drone is the first device to fly on another planet. For this reason, their structure was designed to be simple without integrating scientific instruments. The Mars helicopter (as it is still occasionally called) has now covered over 13.3 kilometers and flown for over 104 minutes. All the data collected will be useful not only for studying the best route for the rover and more generally for knowledge of the planet, but also for the development of future generations of drones that will be larger, more advanced and have scientific instruments.
NASA Ingenuity has completed its 58th flight and is preparing for its 59th
According to data from Flight log officially As part of the mission, the flight took place as expected on September 11th, the previous flight took place on September 3rd instead. The horizontal distance traveled by NASA ingenuity was the same 174 meters with a maximum height of 10 meters and a speed relative to the ground of 3 m/s. The total duration of the flight was 106.8 inches. This flight allowed us to move from Rho Airfield to Sigma Airfield.
As reported by JPL, Flight 59 It is planned for tomorrow and it will be a very special flight. In fact, the Mars drone will not move horizontally, only vertically a maximum height of 20 meters. In the past, the drone reached a height of 16 meters on flights 49 and 50 on April 2nd and 18 meters on April 13th. NASA ingenuity It had never gone further and usually maintained a height of between 10 and 12 meters.
A new challenge for drone with the new maximum flight altitude further increasing its potential and the ability to capture a larger area with the high-resolution RTE (Return to Earth) color camera, tilted at approximately 22° from the horizon. The flight duration is 143 inches and the airfield does not change.
Currently the distance is between NASA ingenuity And NASA Endurance It is about 400 meters, with the former being further along the route than the latter. Both are in an area with a rocky surface near a channel from which some sand dunes now run off “behind” the Belva crater. The path taken should lead to a new area with another channel, larger than the previous one and potentially treacherous due to the sand.
