NASA hoped its Ingenuity helicopter would fly at least once. It took flight 72 times.
The ???? ????? ??????historic craft — the first to ever make a powered, controlled flight on another planet — flew distances as far as 2,315 feet across Mars' Jezero Crater, a basin that once teemed with water, likely creating a lake some 22 miles wide. It served as a reliable scout to the space agency's Perseverance rover, as these robots sleuthed the best places to look for potential evidence of past microbial life on the Red Planet.
The new NASA video below (one-minute long) shows how Ingenuity buzzed over Mars, crossing over rugged and hilly terrain before arriving at its final landing spot months ago. On flight 72, the experimental chopper crashed in a dried-up river valley.
"We never planned for such a long mission," Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity’s project manager, said at a media briefing. "We originally had a single logbook, hoping for one successful flight to be logged in that logbook. Eventually got to five [flights] and were extremely excited to proceed into our extended operations demonstration."
That smooth, sandy terrain was ultimately Ingenuity's demise. The helicopter navigated by using software to track the movement of objects, like rocks, below. But the sandy dunes were largely "featureless," NASA explained.
"The more featureless the terrain is, the harder it is for Ingenuity to successfully navigate across it," the space agency said in a statement. "The team believes that the relatively featureless terrain in this region was likely the root cause of the anomalous landing."
"We never planned for such a long mission."
A hard landing broke multiple rotors, which doomed any future flights. To take to the air, Ingenuity spun its four-foot rotor blades at a blazing 2,400 revolutions every minute. This was necessary to generate the lift needed for flight: The Martian atmosphere is quite thin, with a density about one percent of Earth's, so the rapid rotors must spin fast enough to move enough molecules under its rotors.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
NASA's Ingenuity flight was the beginning of the agency's aerial endeavors on other worlds. NASA is considering a Mars plane, and in four years will launch a "rotorcraft" — with eight spinning rotors — to Saturn's moon Titan, a world harboring tantalizing dunes and seas of methane.
Windows 8: Why the Start Menu's Absence is Irrelevant
‘Defining Courage’ Returning to Aratani Theatre
THROUGH THE FIRE: 2024 — Our Wood Dragon Year
Mae Kakehashi Celebrates 100th Birthday
In 2023, we were girls together
Polkadot Decoded 2023 Brings Web3 Community to Denmark
‘Grandpa Cherry Blossom’ Set for July 18 Screening
Belgrade Will Host the Brightest Web3 Minds This June
Which iPad Model Should You Get?
Democracy Center Announces 2nd Annual Irene Yamamoto Arts Writers
Соблазнительный косплей на Трисс Меригольд из первого ?Ведьмака?
Smart Bitcoin Ignites Tech Innovation, BTCDomain Pioneers Industry's Future
KyberSwap Resumes Elastic Protocol, Backed By KyberDAO Security Fund
Funds Collected for Monterey Park Shooting Victims Stolen in Arcadia
Trump complains about flushing, becomes the butt of Twitter jokes
‘Aki’s Market’ Exhibition at JANM Explores Transgenerational Trauma
AirDAO Achieves Decentralized Governance
San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin’s Obon Festival This Weekend
Изумительный косплей на богиню Мелиною из Hades II
San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin’s Obon Festival This Weekend
Amazon Spring Sale 2025: Save $100 on Amazon Fire TV 4Scientists just named a newly discovered water beetle after Leonardo DiCaprioApple AirTag: $24 at AmazonBest robot vacuum deal: Get 43% off the Eufy Omni C20 robot vacuum and mopSpaceX misses in attempt to catch Falcon 9 rocket fairing in a big netJapanese Buddhist temple hosts funeral for 100 Sony Aibo robot dogsSpaceX launches and lands a brand new version of its Falcon 9 rocketHundreds of 'sea potatoes' have washed up on a beach in CornwallVerizon explains why it throttled a fire department's data during wildfireHey Donald Trump, this is the difference between climate and weather How to unblock Pornhub for free in Tennessee The Museum Shoots Twice Google Meet can now do AI Save 50% on the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max ahead of Memorial Day How to watch Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League finals for free NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for May 21: Tips to solve Connections #240 The ‘Melrose Place’ explosion turns 30 this month. Why it's still pop culture gold Best Hydro Flask deal: Save $10 on a 24 Ways of Knowing The Music Room
0.2185s , 10114.484375 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【???? ????? ??????】Enter to watch online.NASA shows how Mars helicopter did the impossible, and then crashed,
