Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Space
  3. News

First flight of Mars helicopter Ingenuity delayed until next week

By
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter unlocked its rotor blades, allowing them to spin freely, on April 7, 2021, the 47th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter unlocked its rotor blades, allowing them to spin freely, on April 7, 2021, the 47th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

We’ll have to wait a little longer to see the data on the first test flight of the tiny Mars helicopter Ingenuity, currently sitting on the Martian surface. NASA had planned to run the helicopter’s first test flight today, Sunday, April 11, but the flight has now been delayed until next week.

Now, the first test flight will take place on Wednesday, April 14 at the earliest. The delay is due to an issue spotted during a test of the rotor blades on Friday, April 9.

Recommended Videos

“During a high-speed spin test of the rotors on Friday, the command sequence controlling the test ended early due to a “watchdog” timer expiration. This occurred as it was trying to transition the flight computer from ‘Pre-Flight’ to ‘Flight’ mode. The helicopter is safe and healthy and communicated its full telemetry set to Earth,” NASA wrote in an update. “The watchdog timer oversees the command sequence and alerts the system to any potential issues. It helps the system stay safe by not proceeding if an issue is observed and worked as planned.”

Related

The issue may not be a serious one, but due to the experimental nature of the helicopter, NASA engineers are extremely conservative about when to go ahead with testing. The engineers choose to review testing data very carefully before doing anything which could put the craft in jeopardy.

For the first test, the plan is for the helicopter to take off, hover in the air for around 30 seconds, and then land back on the Martian surface. During this time, the craft will control itself autonomously, using data from its sensors to determine its position relative to the ground. If this test goes well, later in the mission it will go on increasingly complex missions, like flying away from the rover and possibly even setting up its own base station away from the rover as well.

Ingenuity is what’s called a technology demonstration, which means that it doesn’t carry instruments specifically for scientific investigation. Instead, its aim is to determine whether helicopters are viable for exploring Mars, and perhaps other planets too. If successful, this could revolutionize Mars exploration by allowing access to hard-to-reach areas like mountains or canyons and could help plotting paths for rovers as well.

When the first test flight does go ahead, we have the details on how you can watch NASA’s livestream of the event here.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Georgina Torbet
Georgina Torbet
Space Writer
Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…
NASA video maps all 72 flights taken by Mars Ingenuity helicopter
NASA's Ingenuity helicopter.

NASA has shared a video (above) that maps all of the flights taken on Mars by its trailblazing Ingenuity helicopter.

Ingenuity became the first aircraft to achieve powered, controlled flight on another planet when its rotors fired up for the first time to carry it above the martian surface in April 2021.

Read more
Final communications sent to the beloved Ingenuity Mars helicopter
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter is seen here in a close-up taken by Mastcam-Z, a pair of zoomable cameras aboard the Perseverance rover. This image was taken on April 5, the 45th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

Earlier this year, the beloved Mars helicopter Ingenuity ended its mission after an incredible 72 flights. Originally designed as a technology test intended to perform just five flights, NASA's helicopter was the first rotorcraft to fly on another planet and was such a success that it has already inspired plans for more exploration of distant planets using rotorcraft. Its mission came to an end, however, when it damaged one of its rotors, leaving it unable to safely fly.

Even then, the helicopter was still able to communicate by sending signals to the nearby Perseverance rover, which acted as its base station. Now, though, Perseverance is traveling away from the helicopter to continue its exploration of Mars. So this week, the NASA team on the ground met for the last time to communicate with Ingenuity, bringing the mission to a final close.

Read more
NASA and Boeing start fueling Starliner spacecraft for first crewed flight
Engineers fuel Boeing's Starliner spacecraft.

Engineers fuel Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. Boeing Space

After numerous delays, NASA and Boeing look more certain than ever to launch the first crewed flight of the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft in May.

Read more