NASA is again involved with the Mars Ingenuity helicopter, two days after a communication blackout. The plane had surprisingly ceased communication with the Perseverance rover, which was the one medium that looked for data from the helicopter and transmitted it to the Earth. On January 20, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) posted on X that the crew is making an attempt to reestablish communication between Ingenuity and the Perseverance rover. They introduced on January 21 that they had been again involved with their beloved helicopter. NASA’s JPL wrote, “Good news today: We’ve reestablished contact with the Mars helicopter after instructing @NASAPersevere to perform long-duration listening sessions for Ingenuity’s signal.”
Good information as we speak: We’ve reestablished contact with the #MarsHelicopter after instructing @NASAPersevere to carry out long-duration listening classes for Ingenuity’s sign.
The crew is reviewing the brand new knowledge to raised perceive the surprising comms dropout throughout Flight 72. https://t.co/KvCVwhZ5Rk
— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) January 21, 2024
Ingenuity landed on Mars in February 2021, and an surprising communication dropout occurred throughout its 72nd flight on January 18. NASA mentioned, “The flight was designed as a quick pop-up vertical flight to check out the helicopter’s systems, following an unplanned early landing during its previous flight.” Earlier, NASA additionally mentioned that Ingenuity has attained an altitude of 40 toes from the Martian floor. “Data Ingenuity sent to the Perseverance rover (which acts as a relay between the helicopter and Earth) during the flight indicates it successfully climbed to its assigned maximum altitude of 40 feet (12 meters). During its planned descent, communications between the helicopter and rover terminated early, prior to touchdown,” NASA mentioned.
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Similarly, NASA misplaced contact with Ingenuity in 2023 and left everybody apprehensive for 2 months. Ingenuity has achieved its objective of enterprise 5 flights over 30 days on Mars. Till now, the helicopter has traveled round 17 kilometers and has climbed as much as an altitude of 79 toes. The plane weighs solely 4 kilos. It is unclear whether or not Ingenuity will fly once more. NASA has not confirmed it as of now and mentioned that they must assess the general state of affairs of the helicopter earlier than commenting on it.