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The Ingenuity helicopter will have to wait a few weeks for its next flight, as Mars is completely on the other side of the Sun from Earth, disturbing communications with spacecraft stationed there. But all solar conjunctions aside, the helicopter has another problem: It has to adapt to a changing atmosphere.
The problem is that Ingenuity has been way too good for what NASA designed it to be. The plan was for the helicopter to demonstrate the usefulness of controlled, powered flight on Mars, for future exploration of the planet and, perhaps one day, more regular trips to it.
Ingenuity was to demonstrate it in five flights; when the helicopter passed these tests, it was promoted to Martian scout, flitthing around the misty tanned sky for to help the rover Perseverance in its science mission. it did that as well.
But having endured all these challenges, the Ingenuity helicopter finds itself in the strange position of having to learn to fly differently to adapt to the changing seasons of Mars; when the planet cools down, atmospheric pressure drops. But one Flight test scheduled for September 18, to acclimate to atmospheric changes, was automatically canceled by Ingenuity after the helicopter detected some irregularities in its engines.
The anomaly is not yet fully understood, but, according to a blog post by the deputy head of operations Jaakko Karras, it occurred in two of the six engines that operate the mechanism that manages the pitch of the helicopter. These motors, called servos, regularly undergo automated tests on Mars.
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“Servo motors are much smaller than the motors that turn the rotors, but they do a tremendous amount of work and are essential for stable and controlled flight,” Karras wrote. “Due to their criticality, Ingenuity performs an automated servo check before each flight. “
So far, what NASA understands about the servo anomaly is that the engines were wobbling a bit; further testing was done on September 21-23 and nothing untoward happened, so maybe it was a fluke.
“One theory explaining what is happening is that the moving parts of the servo reducers and swashplate linkages are starting to show some wear now that Ingenuity has done well over twice as many flights as originally expected (13 completed against five planned), “Karras wrote. “Another theory is that the high-speed spin test left the top rotor in a position that loads servos 1 and 2 in a unique, oscillating-inducing way we’ve never encountered before.”
The problem doesn’t appear to be catastrophic, and with further testing showing things to be nominal, Ingenuity likely has will soon be in the air again. The the solar conjunction lasts from from October 2 to October 14. If the helicopter continues to impress as until now it will find no problem flying in the winter Martian atmosphere.
More: Hear The Amazing Sound Of NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Flying On Mars
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