What's the Next Step for NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter After Mission Ends on Mars?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the conclusion of NASA's Ingenuity helicopter mission on Mars, exploring its achievements, implications for future missions, and comparisons to other space exploration efforts. The scope includes technical aspects of Ingenuity's design and performance, as well as speculative discussions about future missions to Titan and beyond.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants highlight Ingenuity's success as a proof of concept, noting its ability to operate autonomously without real-time human control.
  • Concerns are raised about the implications of Ingenuity's damaged rotor blades, which may affect its operational status.
  • One participant suggests that Titan could be a promising target for future exploration, referencing the planned Dragonfly mission set for 2028.
  • Another participant draws a comparison between Ingenuity's achievements and other space missions, questioning the relevance of the discussion in relation to other topics.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a mix of admiration for Ingenuity's accomplishments and skepticism about the relevance of the discussion. There is no consensus on the implications of Ingenuity's mission ending or the future of aerial exploration on other celestial bodies.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention the challenges of flying in Mars' thin atmosphere and the potential for future missions to Titan, but do not resolve the technical complexities or assumptions underlying these discussions.

Who May Find This Useful

Readers interested in space exploration, aerospace engineering, and the future of planetary missions may find this discussion relevant.

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https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/25/world/nasa-mars-ingenuity-helicopter-mission-ends-scn/index.html

CNN

After completing 72 historic flights on Mars over three years, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter mission has ended.

Originally designed as an experiment, Ingenuity became the first aircraft to operate and fly on another world, lifting off on April 19, 2021.

Imagery and data returned to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, showed that one or more of the chopper’s carbon fiber rotor blades was damaged while landing during its final flight this month. The team determined that the helicopter is no longer able to fly, according to the space agency.

Ingenuity, which had traveled to Mars as the Perseverance rover’s trusty sidekick, is sitting upright on the surface of the red planet, and mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have been able to maintain communications with the rotorcraft.
 
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Shouldn't this be in GD with all the RIP threads on obscure footballers? :wink:

This really worked remarkably well, given that it was intended more as a proof of concept than a scientific instrument. Yes, the Martian gravity is only 40% of Earth's, but the air pressure is less than 1% that of Earth. You need to move a huge volume to move just a little mass.

The fact that it did not require real-time human control is also impressive. It only takes one hard-coded constant or bad unit conversion for it to fail. (Mars Climate Orbiter Impactor anyone?)

Titan may be an excellent future target.
 
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Ingenuity was just the start. We'll get more.
Vanadium 50 said:
Titan may be an excellent future target.
Dragonfly is planned to launch in 2028. Flying on Titan is so easy that a human could power a small aircraft similar to how you would ride a bike on Earth. It's just really cold. And without oxygen.
 
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