Air Accident Investigation Reveals Stunning Details from 100 Million Miles Away

Future space helicopters could benefit from findings made during the first-ever interplanetary aircraft crash investigation. NASA is finalizing a technical report that will explain the causes of the Ingenuity helicopter crash on Mars, which occurred on January 18, 2024.

From a Modest Goal to a Revolutionary Achievement

Part of the Mars 2020 mission, Ingenuity demonstrated how high-precision engineering can exceed expectations. Delivered to the Martian surface by the nuclear-powered Perseverance rover, the small helicopter initially had a modest goal: to prove that flight on Mars was possible. However, it became much more than that.

Since its first flight on April 19, 2021, Ingenuity far exceeded its original mission of just five flights over 30 Martian days. It completed 72 flights over three Earth years, accumulating over two hours of flight time before crashing during its final mission. In that time, the helicopter transitioned from being a simple technology demonstrator to becoming a critical part of the Perseverance mission, serving as a reconnaissance tool to identify interesting locations for the rover to explore.

But what caused Ingenuity to crash? Fortunately, the mission was designed to gather a vast amount of data, not just about Mars but also about the vehicles themselves. Thanks to telemetry and captured images, NASA engineers were able to reconstruct the events of that day.

A Brief Journey and the Investigation into the Crash

On its final flight, the helicopter quickly ascended to an altitude of 12 meters (40 feet), where it hovered briefly to take pictures. Only 19 seconds after takeoff, it began descending but hit the ground at the 32-second mark, cutting off communication with Earth. The team reestablished the connection the next day, and six days later, Perseverance sent detailed images of the helicopter back to Earth, helping engineers uncover the cause of the crash.

The investigation revealed that Ingenuity’s rotor blades were destroyed, which permanently grounded the vehicle. The crash occurred because the helicopter operated in conditions it wasn’t designed for. Ingenuity’s navigation relied on tracking visual features on the ground, which worked well on the rocky terrain near its original landing site. However, during its final flight, the terrain was flat, sandy, and rippled, making navigation difficult.

Ingenuity’s Critical Damage and Communication Loss

Upon landing, Ingenuity hit the ground at an angle, generating significant stress on the rotors and breaking all four of them. The force of one blade tearing off caused a power surge, which cut off communications.

“When conducting an accident investigation 100 million miles away, there are no black boxes or eyewitnesses,” explained Håvard Grip, Ingenuity’s first pilot at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). “While multiple scenarios are possible, we believe the most likely one is that the lack of surface texture provided too little information for the navigation system to operate properly.”

Paving the Way for Future Interplanetary Rotorcraft Missions

The lessons learned from this incident will serve as a foundation for future interplanetary helicopter missions, such as a larger project to explore Mars in areas far beyond the reach of a rover. Additionally, they have already approved a more ambitious concept: a rotorcraft to explore Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.

Meanwhile, even without the ability to fly, Ingenuity continues to contribute to science, now serving as a weather station on Mars.

Read the original article on: New Atlas

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