Ingenuity
NASA JPL is literally just days away from attempting what is official dubbed as the “The Wright Brothers” moment, except this time on Mars.
On April 14th (EDT), if all is well, NASA will look to attempt the first powered flight on another planet and is estimated to last no more than 40 seconds, which is still more than 3 times that of Wright Brother’s first successful powered flight. The first flight will be fairly a vertical climb, hover and vertical descent with the mission complexity increasing for subsequent flights.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is based in Pasadena, California and it is where every American robotic spacecraft has been built and operated from, including the latest Perseverance rover and its invaluable passenger : The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter.
Contrary to popular beliefs, Ingenuity will not conduct scientific experiments for the simple reason that it is a technology demonstrator unlike Perseverance. This space hardware costing 80 million USD weighs 1.8kg (4lbs) and incorporates contra rotating coaxial rotor design capable of both collective and cyclic controls like any other helicopter. This configuration makes it aerodynamically stable, compact and easier to deploy. The rotor diameter is about 1.1m and are made of carbon composite wrapped around a foam core to decrease weight significantly and increase strength. The blades rotate at 2,500rpm to generate enough lift to takeoff from the ground on a planet whose atmosphere is less than 1% that of Earth’s, which translates to an record breaking 100,000ft altitude on Earth.
It is powered by 6 cell Li-Ion battery (25.2 v) providing 350 W power when fully charged, nearly 2/3rd of that power is used to warm the electronics to survive the harsh nights at Jezero crater where temperatures can drop down to -90 degree centigrade.The body of the helicopter is comparable to a large coffee mug and is wrapped with MLI (Multi Layer Insulation). Another interesting fact is that Ingenuity has a small piece of muslin cloth from the left wing of Wright Brothers’ 1903 Kitty Hawk tucked under its solar panel as a great gesture of symbolism.
The helicopter will be sending the flight data from various on board instruments like Altimeter, Inertial Measurement Unit (Gyroscopes and Accelerometers) and 2 cameras via the Perseverance rover (currently stationed at 45m keep out zone from Ingenuity), that will relay the signal to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter or MAVEN orbiter and to be eventually picked by NASA’s Deep Space Network antennas. Currently, the local weather at Jezero is being monitored by an instrument on board Perseverance called Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyser (MEDA), whose data will be crucial for Ingenuity.
Ingenuity is all set to add a new dimension to exploration of planets/moons with an atmosphere. Ingenuity’s mission will last for mere 30 sols with 5 flights in that duration. After that, the helicopter will be left stranded on the red planet, so that Perseverance can continue with its mission. Ingenuity has successfully completed 50rpm spin test and is yet to perform a full 2,500rpm spin test before it takes the first flight.
Team Arcis salutes and is deeply inspired by the ingenuity of all the Engineers who supported this incredible mission and moto of NASA JPL, ‘DARE MIGHTY THINGS’.
