After a very busy 2021 year in the aviation and space sector, the eyes turned to the projects to be realized in 2022. NASA gave the good news of the first flight of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter in 2022.
The first person to make a statement about the Ingenuity Mars helicopter was Ingenuity pilot Martin Cacan, who works at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Stating that there will be a difficult flight due to the location of the helicopter, Martin Cacan talked about the mission target.
Ingenuity Mars helicopter to accompany Perseverance spacecraft
Cacan said, “At the beginning, the sand field was preferred due to the lack of rocks to land safely. The selected area is actually so devoid of rock that warnings were reported during the 18th descent due to abnormal parameters in sight navigation. As a result, we will update the failsafe parameters to reduce the risk of an early landing mid-rise. ” said.
Ingenuity landed on the floor of Mars’ Jezero Crater with NASA’s Perseverance spacecraft on February 18, 2021. Flying in a short time, the helicopter proved that aerial reconnaissance is possible despite the thin atmosphere on the planet.
After the first flight on April 19, the Mars helicopter closed 2021 with a total of 18 flights. Ingenuity, which made its last flight on December 15, stayed in the air for 33 minutes and covered a distance of 3.81 km.
Ingenuity prepares to explore the Jezero land, which billions of years ago was home to a large lake and river delta. Stating that the only place that can potentially preserve signs of life on Mars is the Jezero land, the team hopes to find remains in the delta.
Ingenuity, which will form the path planning by accompanying the Perseverance spacecraft, has an important role in scientific discovery. With the expanded mission, Mars exploration will accelerate.
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