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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSurviving an In-Flight Anomaly: What Happened on Ingenuity's Sixth Flight
STATUS UPDATES | May 27, 2021
Written by Håvard Grip, Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Chief Pilot at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
On the 91st Martian day, or sol, of NASAs Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission, the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter performed its sixth flight. The flight was designed to expand the flight envelope and demonstrate aerial-imaging capabilities by taking stereo images of a region of interest to the west. Ingenuity was commanded to climb to an altitude of 33 feet (10 meters) before translating 492 feet (150 meters) to the southwest at a ground speed of 9 mph (4 meters per second). At that point, it was to translate 49 feet (15 meters) to the south while taking images toward the west, then fly another 164 feet (50 meters) northeast and land.
Telemetry from Flight Six shows that the first 150-meter leg of the flight went off without a hitch. But toward the end of that leg, something happened: Ingenuity began adjusting its velocity and tilting back and forth in an oscillating pattern. This behavior persisted throughout the rest of the flight. Prior to landing safely, onboard sensors indicated the rotorcraft encountered roll and pitch excursions of more than 20 degrees, large control inputs, and spikes in power consumption.
https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/status/305/surviving-an-in-flight-anomaly-what-happened-on-ingenuitys-sixth-flight/
onethatcares
(16,168 posts)I can't say more than that. WOW!
turbinetree
(24,703 posts)that the JPL engineers will be able to correct and download that data and what it will take for "future" flights....just amazing..
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)Looks like they'll be able to craft a software fix for it.
Lucky they got the learning experience non-destructively!