"Fortune favors the bold" . Ingenuity Helicopter first flight Monday, April 19, 2021

There's only so long you can leave a drone sat on the surface of Mars before that itself starts to cause problems so NASA has uploaded the software fix and gave it a test on Friday , cautiously satisfied with the result of the test Ingenuity's crew have now set 12:31 a.m. PDT on Monday, April 19, 2021 as the date and time for Ingenuity Helicopter to hopefully take to the Martian skies.

Video of Friday's rotor blade fast spin test.


Live link for the event.

Over the last week, we’ve been testing the two solutions to address the “watchdog” timer issue that prevented the helicopter from transitioning to “flight mode” and performing a high-speed spin test of the rotors on April 9. These solutions, which have each been verified for use in flight are: 1) adjusting the command sequence from Earth to slightly alter the timing of this transition, and 2) modifying and reinstalling the existing flight control software, which has been stable and healthy for close to two years. The first solution requires adding a few commands to the flight operations sequence and has been tested on both Earth and Mars. From testing this technique on Ingenuity over the last few days, we know this approach is likely to allow us to transition to flight mode and prepare for lift-off about 85% of the time. This solution leaves the helicopter safe if the transition to flight mode is not completed. On Friday, we employed this solution to perform our first-ever high-speed spin test on Mars.

This solution is the least disruptive to a helicopter that, up until we identified the watchdog issue, has been behaving just as we expected. It is the most straightforward, since we do not have to change its configuration.

We also know that if the first attempt does not work on Monday, we can try these commands again, with good probability that subsequent tries in the days following would work even if the first doesn’t. For these reasons, we’ve chosen to pursue this path.
mars.nasa.gov...

Good luck chaps.

a reply to: gortex

Finally something interesting around here. It'll be a nice change of pace watching this.

How will they achieve lift?

Is there enough atmosphere there? News to me.......

a reply to: visitedbythem

The helicopter has been designed to fly on Mars and tested here on Earth in atmospheric conditions similar to those on Mars so all being well it should be able to gain lift and fly.

Hopefully we should get video of it doing that either tomorrow or Tuesday.

This video highlights three important milestones in the flight-testing program of the Mars helicopter system. The testing took place in the 25-foot space simulation chamber at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California where the Martian atmosphere was reproduced.

All I can say is if that's the guy who's going to fly the copter it'll crash. The top rotor is going the wrong way.

originally posted by: crayzeed
All I can say is if that's the guy who's going to fly the copter it'll crash. The top rotor is going the wrong way.

They spin different directions to offset the gyroscopic effect.


Or you're just taking the piss and i didn't get it.

I remember the first RC glider I built.

I was scared to fly it. Actually, I was scared to crash it.
Which I did do eventually, after a number of successful flights.

originally posted by: Phage
I remember the first RC glider I built.

I was scared to fly it. Actually, I was scared to crash it.
Which I did do eventually, after a number of successful flights.

At least you could fix it if it crashed

a reply to: eXia7
Yes they do spin in different directions, but the top rotor is spinning the wrong way.

a reply to: crayzeed

but the top rotor is spinning the wrong way.

You're spinning the wrong way.


You'll notice that, in the spin up, both rotors are spinning in the same direction. Probably because they did not want it to fly.

a reply to: Phage
Get on ! If you're gonna test any motor/ rotor you spin it/ turn it the way it's supposed to work. You don't want it to fly, don't spin it so fast.
What went it comes to actual flight, the bottom rotor spins the correct way but the top rotor spins in the same direction (as the test showed), it wouldn't be pretty wouldn't it for the big bucks it took to get it there.

a reply to: crayzeed

You don't want it to fly, don't spin it so fast.

The test required a certain rotation be attained?



This is what it does when they want it to fly. Top rotor counterclockwise, bottom rotor clockwise.

Start at 0:50.

History has been made, Mars helicopter successfully took its first flight this morning.

NASA have released a better quality video of the Mars Helicopter Spin-up ,Takeoff , Hover , Turn and Landing.


Mighty impressive but .... Where's the sound !

a reply to: gortex
Low bandwidth.
Maybe later it will show up.

a reply to: Phage

Didn't say it was HD I said it's better quality than the one released earlier , which it is.
I don't doubt better will come.

a reply to: gortex

But sound might.
Maybe.

Mars Helicopter has now successfully completed it's second flight , video to follow.

Go big or go home! The #MarsHelicopter successfully completed its 2nd flight, capturing this image with its black-and-white navigation camera. It also reached new milestones of a higher altitude, a longer hover and lateral flying.
twitter.com...

a reply to: gortex


There's enough atmosphere on Mars for a helicopter to fly?

WOW!

Maybe the Moon too.

Mars Helicopter flight 3 due tomorrow.

Faster, farther, bolder. #MarsHelicopter is set for flight No. 3 on April 25. go.nasa.gov...

Flight plan:
Speed: ~4.5mph
Range: 330ft (100m) roundtrip
Altitude: 16ft (5m)

Data expected later Sunday. Til then, peep this shot of rover tracks from the 2nd flight.
twitter.com...