Only a few days after shedding contact with the Mars helicopter Ingenuity, NASA introduced that it has regained communications with the plucky little helicopter. In a publish on X (previously Twitter), NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which designed and operated the helicopter, introduced that it’s again in contact following an surprising communications dropout.
The Ingenuity helicopter is pictured on the floor of Mars. NASA
“Excellent news right this moment: We’ve reestablished contact with the #MarsHelicopter after instructing @NASAPersevere to carry out long-duration listening classes for Ingenuity’s sign,” NASA’s JPL wrote on X. “The workforce is reviewing the brand new knowledge to higher perceive the surprising comms dropout throughout Flight 72.”
The helicopter is simply too small to speak immediately with Earth, as this might require a really massive antenna that may be too large and heavy to connect to the helicopter. As a substitute, it sends its communications by way of the Perseverance rover, which is often close by on the floor of Mars. Perseverance doesn’t speak on to Earth both, although, because it additionally doesn’t carry an enormous antenna. Perseverance sends alerts as much as Mars orbiters overhead, which then transmit that knowledge to Earth.
The orbiters used for these communications embrace NASA orbiters just like the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), Mars Atmospheric and Unstable EvolutioN (MAVEN), and Mars Odyssey, plus the orbiters from the European Area Company (ESA), the Mars Specific and Hint Gasoline Orbiter (TGO). Collectively, these kind the Mars Relay Community, which takes alerts from Mars rovers and landers and sends them on to Earth, the place they’re picked up by the Deep Area Community, a set of big antennas at three completely different websites across the globe.
Communications with Ingenuity have been extra complicated over the past 12 months as Ingenuity and Perseverance have been additional aside and have generally had terrain constructions like hills between them. This terrain concern prompted a communications dropout with Ingenuity in June final 12 months.
The drivers of the rover and people planning the flights of Ingenuity should be very cautious to maintain the 2 shut sufficient to be in communications vary however far sufficient aside that there isn’t a hazard of them crashing into one another. That’s due to the communications delay between Earth and Mars, as it might take as much as 20 minutes for a sign to journey between the 2, so the rover and helicopter can’t be managed in actual time.
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