TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – NASA postponed the first flight of its helicopter drone on Mars, Ingenuity. The delay occurred after the final or final test of the drone came to a halt earlier than planned. From the initial plan of this historic flight on Sunday 11 April 2021, Ingenuity will now stay where it is on the surface of the red planet at least until Wednesday, April 14, 2021.
NASA, in a statement released on Saturday April 10, 2021, explained that the decision to delay was taken in response to an anomaly discovered in the middle of the propeller test. The test is actually going to be carried out until it reaches the speed that brings the drone flying, which is 2,400 revolutions per minute.
Also read:
Martian crust is thought to store water for nearly half the volume of the Atlantic
“During the propeller high rotational speed test on Friday, the command sequence controlling the test stopped early following the timeout on the ‘watchdog’ timers,” NASA said. The anomaly occurs when the Ingenuity computer system tries to transition from ‘Pre-Flight’ to ‘Flight’ mode. “The helicopter is safe and sound and its telemetry communications to Earth remain fully operational,” NASA added.
NASA also stated that the helicopter engineers were still reviewing data from Mars to understand what really happened. They hope that the test will be rescheduled soon and Ingenuity can fulfill its mission: the demonstration of the technology of the first helicopter to fly beyond Earth.
Ingenuity arrived at the surface of Mars on February 18 and aboard the NASA rover Perseverance. Finding an ‘airfield’ for Ingenuity is Perseverance’s first mission once it lands at Jezero Crater.
Once found, Perseverance then began the careful process of unfolding and unloading the 1.8-kilogram helicopter drone. Since then Ingenuity has had to survive, including from cold nights on Mars itself, using energy from its solar panels.
Engineers at NASA then unlocked the helicopter blades and tested them starting at a low speed, 50 revolutions per minute. On Friday, the helicopter tried to test its propeller spinning at full speed – the last test before actually trying to take off – but that’s when the anomaly occurred.
“The timekeeper in charge of sending warning messages to the system of potential problems,” said NASA. “He’s helping the system stay safe and work according to plan.”
Also read:
Historic Mission, NASA Helicopter on Mars Will Make a Prime Flight
From the video and pictures sent by Perseverance, it can be seen when the rotor or propeller rotation test was carried out until the rotation stopped. Ingenuity appears to be between a stretch of land and rocks Mars.
SPACE | IGADGETPRO
– .
