Washington: NASA Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity, restored contact with mission controllers after a silence of more than two months, 63 days to be very specific.
Ingenuity got in touch with its handlers on June 28 via its robotic parter, the Perseverance rover, NASA officials said Friday.
It was the first such communication since the 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) chopper went dark toward the end of its 52nd flight on the floor of Mars' Jezero Crater.
Ingenuity landed on the Red Planet in February 2021 attached to the belly of NASA's Mars Perseverance rover and it also marked the two-year anniversary of its first flight, which took place on April 19, 2021.
Originally tasked with only five test flights to prove its "pioneering" technology, Ingenuity helicopter exceeded all expectations and has completed a record 52 flights on Mars.
However, on its 52nd flight on April 26, mission controllers lost contact with the helicopter as it descended toward the surface for landing.
"We're excited to be back in communications range with Ingenuity and receive confirmation of Flight 52", Ingenuity team lead Josh Anderson, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said in a statement today. "The portion of Jezero Crater the rover and helicopter are currently exploring has a lot of rugged terrain, which makes communications dropouts more likely," Anderson said. "The team’s goal is to keep Ingenuity ahead of Perseverance, which occasionally involves temporarily pushing beyond communication limits," he added.
"We're excited to be back in communications range with Ingenuity and receive confirmation of Flight 52", Ingenuity team lead Josh Anderson, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said in a statement today.
"The portion of Jezero Crater the rover and helicopter are currently exploring has a lot of rugged terrain, which makes communications dropouts more likely," Anderson said.
"The team’s goal is to keep Ingenuity ahead of Perseverance, which occasionally involves temporarily pushing beyond communication limits," he added.
Ingenuity covered 1,191 feet (363 meters) of ground on the 139-second-long Flight 52. The main goals of the sortie were to reposition the chopper and snap photos for Perseverance's science team, NASA officials said.
The newly received flight data suggest that Ingenuity remains in good health. If further checkouts confirm that, the chopper could fly again within the next few weeks, team members said.
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