This is “good news,” NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in charge of Ingenuity, said on Saturday. Contact has in fact been re-established with the small helicopter on Mars, announced the American space agency, after an unexpected breakdown which had raised fears of the end of the device.
The helicopter, which looks like a large drone, became in 2021 the first motorized vehicle to fly on another planet. He had arrived on Mars with the Perseverance rover, which serves as a relay to transmit data between the helicopter and Earth and whose mission is to search for traces of ancient life on the planet.
Up to two months without contact in 2023
Communications between the helicopter and the rover were suddenly interrupted Thursday during Ingenuity’s 72nd flight. NASA said contact was finally established with the helicopter by ordering Perseverance “to conduct long-duration listening sessions to pick up Ingenuity’s signal.”
NASA had already temporarily lost contact with the helicopter in the past, notably for a long period of around two months last year.
The helicopter team is “examining the new data to better understand the unexpected interruption of communications during Flight 72,” she added. NASA previously explained that Thursday’s flight was intended to “check the helicopter’s systems, following an earlier-than-planned landing during the previous flight.” Ingenuity had reached an altitude of 12 meters, NASA explained in this message published Friday evening, but “during its descent, communications between the helicopter and the rover ended earlier, before landing”.
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Remarkable longevity
Ingenuity, which weighs just 1.8 kg, was originally only supposed to take off five times, but the mission exceeded all expectations. In total, the helicopter traveled some 17 kilometers, and flew up to an altitude of 24 meters.
Its longevity is remarkable, especially knowing that it must survive freezing Martian nights, warming itself thanks to solar panels charging its batteries during the day. Working with Perseverance, he acted as an aerial scout to help his wheeled companion search for possible signs of ancient microbial life.