A NASA helicopter attempts its fourth flight on the surface of Mars on Friday after an earlier failure – IT Pro – News

After three successful trips to Mars, NASA’s Ingenuity failed to take off for a fourth time. On Friday, NASA will try again. It is not yet known why the helicopter was not able to perform its planned flight, but NASA indicates a problem with the timer.

Creativity was supposed to stay in midair longer and faster on its fourth flight than on previous ones, however Helicopters Failed to separate from the surface of Mars. The helicopter failed to enter flight mode, but it is safe and in good condition. According to NASA. Later on Friday, the space agency made another attempt.

NASA has already taken into account that not all Ingenuity flights can be successfully deployed. A timer issue was discovered last month though Applicable repair There is a 15 percent chance that the helicopter will not enter flight mode. This problem does not prevent more flights. By the way, it is not yet certain that the failed flight was due to the timer expiration issue.

On its fourth flight, Ingenuity must first ascend to a height of five meters and then travel 84 meters over rocks and potholes. The Downward Helicopter Camera captures images of the Martian surface every 1.2 meters. The flight time will be 117 seconds, compared to 80 seconds for the third flight, and the top speed should reach 3.5 meters per second. On the third flight the speed was two meters per second.