Navigation error sends NASA’s Mars helicopter on flight

Cape Canaveral, Florida (AP) – A navigation timing error has sent NASA’s Mars helicopter on a road trip, its first major problem since flying over the Martian sky last month.

Officials from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory reported Thursday that the experimental helicopter, called Ingenuity, managed to land safely.

The problem emerged one minute after the helicopter’s sixth test flight last Saturday, at an altitude of 33 feet (10 meters). One of the many images captured by the on-board camera was not recorded in the navigation system, completely interrupting the schedule and confusing the vehicle about its location.

Innovation started tilting back and forth at 20 degrees and saw power consumption spike, according to Harvard Grip, chief helicopter pilot.

Written in the online status update, an integrated system to provide more stability “came to the rescue.” The helicopter landed 16 feet (5 meters) from its intended landing site.

Ingenuity became the first airliner to make a powered flight to another planet in April, two months after it landed on Mars with NASA’s persevering probe.

The 4-pound (1.8 kg) helicopter made the first five flights, each of which was more difficult than before. So touched by the $ 85 million tech show, NASA has extended its mission by at least a month.

The turbulent Saturday cruise was the first in this bonus period. Engineers have spent the last few days tackling the problem.

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