{"id":224305,"date":"2021-04-11T17:53:15","date_gmt":"2021-04-11T14:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/nasa-delays-mars-copter-flight-for-tech-check\/"},"modified":"2021-04-11T17:53:15","modified_gmt":"2021-04-11T14:53:15","slug":"nasa-delays-mars-copter-flight-for-tech-check","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/nasa-delays-mars-copter-flight-for-tech-check\/","title":{"rendered":"#NASA delays Mars copter flight for tech check"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#NASA delays Mars copter flight for tech check<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\"NASA
\n NASA has delayed the Mars flight of its Ingenuity helicopter
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NASA has delayed by at least several days the first flight of its mini-helicopter on Mars after a possible tech issue emerged while testing its rotors, the US space agency said Saturday.<\/p>\n


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Ingenuity’s trip<\/a>, which is to be the first-ever powered, controlled flight on another planet, was set for Sunday but is now on hold until at least April 14. <\/p>\n

A high-speed test of the four-pound (1.8 kilogram) helicopter’s rotors on Friday ended earlier than expected due to an alert of a potential issue.<\/p>\n

“The helicopter team is reviewing telemetry to diagnose and understand the issue,” NASA said in a statement. “Following that, they will reschedule the full-speed test.”<\/p>\n

NASA noted the copter is “safe and healthy” and had sent information back to Earth.<\/p>\n

Initially the plan for Sunday was to have Ingenuity fly for 30 seconds to take a picture of the Perseverance rover, which touched down on Mars on February 18 with the helicopter attached to its underside.<\/p>\n

NASA calls the unprecedented helicopter operation highly risky, but says it could reap invaluable data about the conditions on Mars. <\/p>\n

The flight is a true challenge because the air on Mars is so thin\u2014less than one percent of the pressure of Earth’s atmosphere. <\/p>\n

This means Ingenuity must spin its rotor blades much faster than a helicopter needs to do on Earth in order to fly.<\/p>\n

After the flight, Ingenuity will send Perseverance technical data on what it has done, and that information will be transmitted back to Earth. <\/p>\n

This will include a black and white photo of the Martian surface that Ingenuity is programmed to snap while flying.<\/p>\n

A day later, once its batteries have charged up again, Ingenuity is to transmit another photo\u2014in color, of the Martian horizon, taken with a different camera.<\/p>\n

If the flight is a success, NASA plans another no more than four days later. It plans as many as five altogether, each successively more difficult, over the course of a month.<\/p>\n

NASA hopes to make the helicopter rise five meters (16 feet) and then move laterally.<\/p>\n

The mission is be the equivalent on Mars of the first powered flight on Earth\u2014by the Wright brothers in 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. A piece of fabric from that plane has been tucked inside Ingenuity in honor of that feat.<\/p>\n\n

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NASA space copter ready for first Mars flight\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2021 AFP<\/p>\n

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Citation<\/strong>:
\n NASA delays Mars copter flight for tech check (2021, April 11)
\n retrieved 11 April 2021
\n from https:\/\/phys.org\/news<\/a>\/2021-04-nasa-mars-copter-flight-tech.html<\/p>\n

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\n part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n