Balaram retrieved his original proposal and developed the first conceptual design for the possibility of including it as a scientific instrument on the Mars 2020 rover – which would become Perseverance. Ingenuity’s time came in 2013 when Charles Elachi, director of JPL at the time, attended a presentation on drones and helicopters and returned to the lab asking if one could fly on Mars. The Mars helicopter would sit on the shelf for 15 years as Balaram worked on other Mars missions. He proposed one for NASA during a call for submissions, but it wasn’t selected for funding. The dream of Ingenuity began in the 1990s when JPL robotics technologist Bob Balaram heard Ilan Kroo, a Stanford University professor of aeronautics and astronautics, speak at a conference about a “mesicopter,” or a miniature airborne vehicle for Earth. The future of powered flight in space exploration is solid and strong.” “If we can scout and scientifically survey Mars from the air, with its thin atmosphere, we can certainly do the same in a number of other destinations across the solar system, like Titan or Venus. “I can only imagine where we may be a decade or so from now,” Braun said. This graphic shows the plan for Ingenuity's flights. Such is the life of a technology demonstration only designed to last for a short time. And once those 31 days are over, Ingenuity’s brief moment in the sun will end. The Perseverance rover will spend the next two years exploring Jezero Crater, the site of an ancient lake and river delta, for evidence of past microbial life and collecting samples that will be returned to Earth by future missions.īut April is Ingenuity’s time to shine. If the first flight is successful, Ingenuity will push itself to fly higher and longer to test the limits of what it can do. Fly over the items from the crate to pick them up and put them to use. Blast the crates by aiming and clicking with your mouse. An onboard computer will use the images taken by the helicopter to track features on the ground and make tiny adjustments 500 times per second to keep the helicopter on its trajectory in case of disturbances like wind gusts. Items are invaluable to your copter, especially when you’re in a tight spot. Ingenuity will conduct its first flight, and up to four others over the course of 31 Earth days, by itself, using a set of instructions sent from pilots at JPL. Ingenuity's first flight will only last about 30 seconds.
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