Mars Ingenuity Helicopter's Flight: Will NASA Launch Its 1st Take Off on Monday?

NASA announced on Saturday that the first flight of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter would take place on Monday.

According to a press release from the space agency, the helicopter will now take off at about 3:30 a.m. EDT on Monday. Data from the flight will be sent back to Earth a few hours later.

(Photo: NASA via Getty Image)
In this concept illustration provided by NASA, NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter stands on the Red Planet's surface as NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover (partially visible on the left) rolls away.

The craft was supposed to take off on Apr. 11. Still, data from a high-speed rotor test revealed that the test sequence ended early. Ingenuity's machine tried to convert from pre-flight to flight mode last weekend. After Ingenuity encountered a minor tech malfunction, the date was pushed back once more.

NASA said its Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers modified and reinstalled Ingenuity's flight control program. The process took them several days.

Ingenuity Completes First Test Spin in Mars

The space agency then announced on Twitter late Friday that Ingenuity had completed a full-speed spin test.

The achievement would enable the Ingenuity team to progress to the next stage, a 30-second hover at the height of 10 feet.

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter will make its first autonomous powered flight on Mars if it is successful.

In addition, the Ingenuity's first test flight will be followed by further experimental flights to increase the helicopter's range and altitude.

After the Ingenuity has completed all of the tests NASA has planned for it, the helicopter will be used for scientific missions.

NASA's Perseverance rover kept the four-pound helicopter under its chassis as it landed on the surface on Feb. 18.

The Perseverance helicopter is intended for a 30-day demonstration before returning to its primary task of drilling rock samples in search of signs of past life on Mars.

How JPL Engineers Fixed Ingenuity's System

During the high-speed spin-up drill, the NASA Ingenuity team discovered a software solution that could solve the command sequence problem.

The team decided that updating and reinstalling Ingenuity's flight control software was the best course of action after experimenting with various options.

In a NASA blog post, it says that the software update will safely move Ingenuity's hardware and software to "Flight" mode.

The Ingenuity team verified and completed its uplink to the helicopter and follow a specific procedure with cautious and deliberate measures.

The following steps are included in the procedure:

• Identifying the problem and developing possible solutions;
• Creating, validating, and uploading the software;
• Loading the flight software onto the flight controllers; and
• Booting Ingenuity with new flight apps.

Finally, the Ingenuity team decided to add a few commands to the flight sequence, which were thoroughly tested on Earth and Mars and found to be successful without jeopardizing the helicopter's protection.

How to Watch Flight?

The helicopter team prepares to receive the data downlink in NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Space Flight Operations Facility. Hence, NASA aims to livestream the data downlink starting at 6:15 a.m. EDT Monday.

NASA will conduct a post-flight briefing at 2 p.m. EDT with Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, and JPL representatives.

You can watch the live stream of Ingenuity's flight on NASA Television and the agency's website. You may also watch the launch on social media sites, including YouTube and Facebook, if you're up for an early morning Monday (or late night, depending on where you are).

During the livestream and briefing, NASA encouraged the public and the media to ask questions using the hashtag #MarsHelicopter on social media.

RELATED ARTICLE: NASA's Mars Ingenuity Helicopter Brings Part of Wright Brothers' 1903 Plane to Red Planet

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