Animation of NASA Ingenuity Mars Helicopter from above. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“The longer you look back, the farther you can look forward.”–Winston Churchill
Following Flight 12’s hunting pictures of “South Séítah,” which were the most important Ingenuity has actually required to date, we are taking Winston’s recommendations for Ingenuity’s 13 th flight. We will once again be venturing throughout into Se ítah to search a location of outcrops glimpsed in Flight 12 images– however we’re taking these brand-new photos while recalling, pointing in the opposite instructions.
Taking location no earlier than Saturday, September 4 at 5: 08 p.m. PDT, or 12: 04 LMST (regional Mars time), the 193 rd sol (Martian day) of the Perseverance objective, the flight will once again journey into the geologically interesting South Séítah area. However, rather of penetrating even more into Séítah and taking images of numerous ridgelines and outcrops (which we did on 12), we’ll be focusing on one specific ridgeline and its outcrops throughout Flight13 We’ll likewise be flying at a lower elevation– 26 feet (8 meters), rather than the 33 feet (10 meters) throughout 12.
This picture of dune, stones, and rocky outcrops of the “South Séítah” area of Mars’ Jezero Crater was recorded by NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter throughout its 12 th flight, onAug 16,2021 Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Another huge distinction is which method our electronic camera will be pointing. For Flight 13, we’ll be catching images pointing southwest. And when they’re integrated with Flight 12’s northeast viewpoints, the overlapping images from a lower elevation need to supply important insight for Perseverance researchers and rover drive coordinators.
When you compare our approximated flight time and range took a trip for this journey, it once again strengthens simply just how much we’re focusing our efforts in one little location. On Flight 12 we covered 1,476 feet (450 meters) of Martian ground in 169.5 seconds and took 10 photos (once again– all pointed northeast). On 13, we’ll cover about 690 feet (210 meters) in around 161 seconds and take 10 photos (pointing southwest) …
And for those of you scoring in the house, on 13 we’ll likewise be taking a trip at 7.3 miles per hour (3.3 meters per second). We did 10 miles per hour (4.3 meters per second) throughout 12.
While we’re discussing numbers, in our last blog site, Chief Pilot Håvard discussed our logbook (the Nominal Pilot’s Logbook for Planets and Moons). Below is an upgraded journal of a few of the most essential numbers for Ingenuity’s Mars flights up until now. Along with those noted below, we have actually taken 72 13- megapixel color images and 1,390 black-and-white navigation electronic camera images. We’re anticipating contribute to these numbers and discovering more about that ridgeline when “lucky 13” remains in the books.
| Since Deployment (April 3, 2021/Sol 43) | In Tech Demo | In Ops Demo | % Above Tech Demo | |
| Sols Achieved | 141 | 31 | 111 | 358% |
| Num Flights | 12 | 5 | 7 | 140% |
| Distance Flown (m) | 2671 m (~ 1.44 nmiles) | 499 m | 2172 m | 435% |
| Time Flown (s) | 1308 s (21 minutes 48 s) | 396 s | 912 s | 230% |
Written by Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity Team Lead at NASA‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
