NASA Restores Contact with Mars Ingenuity Helicopter After Two Months of Silence
After a silence of more than two months, NASA has successfully reestablished contact with the Mars Ingenuity Helicopter, according to an announcement by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California on July 2, 2023.
The last contact with the Mars Helicopter was on April 26, during its 52nd flight. The communication blackout was anticipated due to a hill that blocked the line of sight between Ingenuity and Perseverance, the Mars rover that arrived on the red planet alongside Ingenuity in February 2021.
The rover acts as a communication relay between the helicopter and mission controllers at JPL. As a result, when the hill obstructed the connection between the two vehicles, contact with Ingenuity was temporarily lost. However, as Perseverance reached the top of the hill on June 28, contact was reestablished, allowing JPL to download the data from Ingenuity’s 52nd flight.
During the loss of communication, Ingenuity was designed to operate independently. Joshua Anderson, Ingenuity team lead at JPL, expressed relief at the reestablished contact, stating, “Ingenuity is designed to take care of itself when communication gaps like this occur, but we all still had a sense of relief finally hearing back”.
In its 52nd flight, the helicopter completed a successful 139-second flight covering a distance of 1,191 feet (363 meters). Initial data indicates that the helicopter is in good shape. If further health checks come back normal, Ingenuity will be all set for its next flight.
Since its arrival on Mars, Ingenuity has been deployed dozens of times, assisting Perseverance in its search for signs of ancient microbial life. The Mars helicopter, the first aircraft to perform powered, controlled flight on another planet, has flown increasingly complex flights and has even aided the Perseverance team by capturing aerial imagery used to plan safe and efficient routes for the ground-based rover.
Looking forward, NASA plans to build more advanced Ingenuity-like aircraft for future missions to Mars and other celestial bodies, given the success of the flight technology demonstrated by Ingenuity.
This is not the first time Ingenuity has experienced communication blackouts. However, the recent two-month silence has been the longest communication gap so far in the mission.
Despite the challenges, the Mars team at JPL remains enthusiastic about the continuing mission, keen on pushing the boundaries of what is achievable in space exploration. With the communication restored, the scientific community eagerly awaits the findings from Ingenuity’s future missions.
