SpaceTech 2023 - Banner

NASA postpones Ingenuity’s maiden flight on Mars

Perseverance’s Ingenuity. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Paris, 12 April 2021. – Not yet: NASA rescheduled Mars helicopter Ingenuity’s maiden flight to “no earlier than April 14”, the agency said.

Based on data from the Ingenuity Mars helicopter that arrived Friday from a high-speed spin test of the rotors, NASA has chosen to reschedule the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s first experimental flight, NASA said.

“The helicopter is safe and healthy and communicated its full telemetry set to Earth”, NASA said.

“The helicopter team is reviewing telemetry to diagnose and understand the issue. Following that, they will reschedule the full-speed test.”

Ingenuity was carried to the Red Planet with NASA’s spectacular Perseverance rover mission. Its experimental flight would be the first time that humankind is flying over another planet to observe and explore it.

 

Check Also

EU SST

EU SST Wins T.S. Kelso Award for Flight Safety Contributions

Space Data Association has announced The European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking Partnership (EU SST) as the recipient of the T.S. Kelso Award in recognition of outstanding contributions to space flight safety. The EU SST Partnership relies on the SSA capabilities of 15 Member states of the European Union to provide space safety services, with the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) acting as the Front Desk.