NASA's Helicopter and Rover Make New Progress on Mars
2021-07-12
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1The U.S. space agency NASA is reporting new progress on Mars for its experimental helicopter and Perseverance explorer.
2The helicopter, called Ingenuity, completed its ninth flight on the Red Planet on July 5.
3NASA described the flight as the most successful so far.
4This is because Ingenuity broke several new records: for length of flight, speed and distance.
5The helicopter's movements are controlled by a team operating from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California.
6The team said in the ninth flight, Ingenuity traveled for the first time across what it described as "unfriendly terrain."
7The previous flights involved shorter trips over mostly flat terrain.
8The helicopter is working together with NASA's Perseverance explorer, or rover.
9Currently, both are in an area of Mars known as "Séítah."
10The area contains rocks, sandy hills and craters.
11This kind of terrain can present challenges for Ingenuity, raising the possibility the aircraft could crash during flight or upon landing.
12The team says one reason for this is that Ingenuity was built to guide itself with an algorithm designed to fly it across mainly flat ground.
13The main goal of the Ingenuity experiment was to demonstrate that a helicopter could successfully take off, fly and land on Mars.
14The aircraft was not built to perform detailed searches and other complex operations.
15But since Ingenuity has progressed so well in previous tests, NASA controllers decided to push its limits even further.
16The team described the latest flight as a "nail-biter."
17But in the end, it reported Ingenuity was "alive and well" after completing a trip of 625 meters through "challenging terrain."
18The flight lasted 2 minutes and 46 seconds.
19The aircraft reached a speed of 5 meters per second.
20As it flies, Ingenuity captures detailed images of the surface of Mars.
21NASA says the helicopter's ninth flight was designed to provide "the first close view of major science targets that (Perseverance) will not reach for quite some time."
22The latest images will be studied by the Perseverance team, which will then decide which areas may be most valuable for the rover to visit.
23Ingenuity is supporting Perseverance's goal to collect Martian soil and rocks to help scientists search for signs of ancient life on the planet.
24NASA also recently announced that Perseverance has started using an improved self-navigation system as it expands its exploration activities across Mars.
25So far, the rover's team at JPL has been planning the navigation paths and sending the travel instructions to Perseverance.
26But now, NASA says the rover will increasingly "take charge of the drive by itself -- using a powerful auto-navigation system."
27The system, called AutoNav, first creates a three-dimensional, or 3D, map of the terrain ahead.
28It then identifies any objects in the path and maps the best way to avoid them.
29JPL controllers say AutoNav can complete this process without any additional direction from them.
30Vandi Verma is a senior engineer, rover planner and driver at JPL.
31She said in a statement the system gives the rover the ability to "think while driving."
32She added: "The rover is thinking about the autonomous drive while its wheels are turning."
33NASA says that ability, combined with other improvements, might enable Perseverance to hit a top speed of 120 meters per hour.
34Another NASA rover on Mars, Curiosity, is equipped with an earlier version of AutoNav.
35On average, it moves about 30 meters per hour.
36I'm Bryan Lynn.
1The U.S. space agency NASA is reporting new progress on Mars for its experimental helicopter and Perseverance explorer. The helicopter, called Ingenuity, completed its ninth flight on the Red Planet on July 5. 2NASA described the flight as the most successful so far. This is because Ingenuity broke several new records: for length of flight, speed and distance. 3The helicopter's movements are controlled by a team operating from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. The team said in the ninth flight, Ingenuity traveled for the first time across what it described as "unfriendly terrain." The previous flights involved shorter trips over mostly flat terrain. 4The helicopter is working together with NASA's Perseverance explorer, or rover. Currently, both are in an area of Mars known as "Séítah." The area contains rocks, sandy hills and craters. 5This kind of terrain can present challenges for Ingenuity, raising the possibility the aircraft could crash during flight or upon landing. The team says one reason for this is that Ingenuity was built to guide itself with an algorithm designed to fly it across mainly flat ground. 6The main goal of the Ingenuity experiment was to demonstrate that a helicopter could successfully take off, fly and land on Mars. The aircraft was not built to perform detailed searches and other complex operations. But since Ingenuity has progressed so well in previous tests, NASA controllers decided to push its limits even further. 7The team described the latest flight as a "nail-biter." But in the end, it reported Ingenuity was "alive and well" after completing a trip of 625 meters through "challenging terrain." The flight lasted 2 minutes and 46 seconds. The aircraft reached a speed of 5 meters per second. 8As it flies, Ingenuity captures detailed images of the surface of Mars. NASA says the helicopter's ninth flight was designed to provide "the first close view of major science targets that (Perseverance) will not reach for quite some time." 9The latest images will be studied by the Perseverance team, which will then decide which areas may be most valuable for the rover to visit. Ingenuity is supporting Perseverance's goal to collect Martian soil and rocks to help scientists search for signs of ancient life on the planet. 10Self-navigation system 11NASA also recently announced that Perseverance has started using an improved self-navigation system as it expands its exploration activities across Mars. 12So far, the rover's team at JPL has been planning the navigation paths and sending the travel instructions to Perseverance. But now, NASA says the rover will increasingly "take charge of the drive by itself -- using a powerful auto-navigation system." 13The system, called AutoNav, first creates a three-dimensional, or 3D, map of the terrain ahead. It then identifies any objects in the path and maps the best way to avoid them. JPL controllers say AutoNav can complete this process without any additional direction from them. 14Vandi Verma is a senior engineer, rover planner and driver at JPL. She said in a statement the system gives the rover the ability to "think while driving." She added: "The rover is thinking about the autonomous drive while its wheels are turning." 15NASA says that ability, combined with other improvements, might enable Perseverance to hit a top speed of 120 meters per hour. Another NASA rover on Mars, Curiosity, is equipped with an earlier version of AutoNav. On average, it moves about 30 meters per hour. 16I'm Bryan Lynn. 17Bryan Lynn wrote this story, based on reports from NASA. Hai Do was the editor. 18We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 19____________________________________________ 20Words in This Story 21terrain - n. a particular kind of land 22crater - n. a round hole made by an explosive force such as a bomb or an object falling from the sky 23challenge - n. a difficult task or problem 24algorithm - n. a set of steps that are followed in order to solve a mathematical problem or to complete a computer process 25nail-biter - n. an event that is exciting because you do not know how it will end 26navigation - n. the movement and leading of things, such as ships or vehicles 27three-dimensional (3D) - adj. having or appearing to have length, depth and height 28autonomous - adj. independent and having the power to operate automatically without human involvement