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NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity won't fly until next week at the earliest
After analyzing the results of Friday's (April 9) abortive rotor-spinning test, the Ingenuity team has decided to modify and reinstall the helicopter's flight control software. A new flight date will be set next week.
Science & Tech
We'll have to wait a bit longer to see the first Mars helicopter lift off.
NASA had originally aimed to conduct the first Red Planet flight of its Ingenuity helicopter — the first-ever powered flight on a world beyond Earth — on Sunday (April 11). A high-speed rotor-spinning test on Friday (April 9) didn't go as planned, however, pushing the debut back until Wednesday (April 14) at the earliest.
Now, after analyzing the issue over the weekend, the Ingenuity team has concluded "that minor modification and reinstallation of Ingenuity’s flight control software is the most robust path forward," officials at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, which manages Ingenuity's technology-demonstrating mission, wrote in an update Monday (April 12).
"Our best estimate of a targeted flight date is fluid right now, but we are working toward achieving these milestones and will set a flight date next week," NASA officials wrote in the update.