Wonders of Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity Helicopter

 

Ingenuity Helicopter | Credit: NASA

Can you guess the name of the first drone that flew to the other planet?

If you are thinking of the Perseverance Mission, you are going in the right direction.

It is an Ingenuity helicopter developed by NASA.

 Let’s explore how this helicopter and its partner explorer, the Perseverance Rover, achieved something that was almost impossible.

Making the impossible happen

Ingenuity is nestled up sideways under the belly of Perseverance rover | Credit: NASA

Ingenuity, the Martian Helicopter, is a technological demonstration that aims to test powered, controlled flight on an alien planet for the first time. On the Perseverance rover, it was transported to Mars. The Ingenuity was deployed to the surface once the rover had found a suitable "airfield" location so it could conduct several test flights over a 30-day testing period on Mars.

Rovers have been sent to another planet earlier as well, but the ingenuity helicopter is the first of its kind. This seemingly straightforward helicopter is the result of challenging engineering and scientific teamwork.                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Now, the question is, "Why is launching such a helicopter a big deal for scientists?"

 So, here’s the catch:

When the rotors on top rotate, they create lift, which causes the helicopter to climb. Depending on the weight of the cargo you are attempting to raise and the amount of air that is available, a certain amount of air will need to be moved. The issue is just this.

The helicopter's weight would need to be extremely light in order to be lifted, as Mars' atmosphere is only 1% as dense as Earth's. That was a complex problem that had experts scratching their heads, especially when you consider all of the electronics and equipment that needed to be transported aboard the helicopter. In an atmosphere with such a low density, flying seemed impossible.

 So, how did they manage to fly the helicopter?

 A helicopter's "rotors" must rotate quickly enough to provide the force known as "lift." However, the lift can only be produced when some sort of atmosphere is present. First, the two carbon fibre rotors needed to spin significantly faster than any helicopter on Earth in order to provide lift. This lift was supplied by Ingenuity’s rotor system, which features four carbon-fibre blades arranged into two 4-foot (1.2-metre) counter-rotating rotors. Most helicopters and drones on Earth spin their rotors at a rate of 400 to 500 revolutions per minute, but the rotor’s speed on the Ingenuity was roughly 2,400 revolutions per minute.

 Martian gravity, about one-third the strength of gravity on Earth, gives us a slight advantage. Less power was required to lift the ingenuity. Then, keeping the craft lightweight was also essential. Keeping the mass of the vehicle contained during the entire design process was a major challenge. But scientists did that amazingly! 

The weight of the entire vehicle was less than 1.8 kilograms, which is almost the same as the weight of a laptop. What you will find more surprising is that the two blades of the rotor weigh only 35 grams and are responsible for lifting an 1800-gram helicopter.

 NASA was also concerned about the rotor blade flexing that occurs above and below the plane of rotation, which results in blade flapping. So, the blades were made very stiff while at the same time being lightweight and very broad across the blade root to provide the extra lift needed in the Martian atmosphere.

Ingenuity helicopter's carbon fibre blades | Credit: NASA

This is not it. One more challenge was to protect the helicopter from freezing at night. Mars can get to -130 degrees Fahrenheit, and engineers had to protect the brain of Ingenuity, which holds its camera, computing boards, and batteries. Scientists came up with a solution to wrap the box that holds Ingenuity’s brain with two layers of shiny golden material, metallized polyamide film. By preventing the circulation layer from flowing, scientists prevented the heat from leaking out.

Mission on Mars

 The very basic question is, "Why did NASA decide to design a helicopter for Mars?"

 "To prove that they can."

 "That’s it?"

 "Yes!"

 I know it's a bit weird, but it’s true.

 Within a 30-day (31-day) demonstration window, Ingenuity attempted up to five test flights. Its aims for innovation are comparable to those of the Flyer, built by the Wright brothers, which made the first powered, controlled flight on Earth. The rover will help with back-and-forth communications from Earth throughout the helicopter's commissioning and flying test programme.

Perseverance Rover exploring Jezero Crater | Credit: NASA

In February 2021, ingenuity and perseverance touched down together in a hazardous and previously unexplored part of Mars called the Jezero Crater. Perseverance is searching the area for evidence of prehistoric life on Mars in the 28-mile-wide (45-kilometre) Jezero. Jezero once supported a large lake and a river delta.

Jezero was chosen for the Mars 2020 mission because, from orbit, it looks to have been a lake habitat where microbes could have flourished and because of its substantial delta, which would probably have preserved any traces of them. The rover is using its seven pieces of research equipment to drill, scrape, and collect fragments of the Red Planet and examine them for any indication of prehistoric life. Additionally, it is gathering samples for return to Earth.

Key methods for exploiting Martian natural resources for fuel and life support are being shown by the Perseverance rover. Additionally, it is keeping an eye on the atmosphere to help mission designers better understand how to safeguard future human explorers. Ingenuity Helicopter has performed 51 flights on Mars since its launch.

Milestones Achieved and Future Planning

Human Exploration in future illustration | Credit: NASA

Understanding how to operate aeroplanes and helicopters on Earth required decades of trial and error on the part of humankind. The Ingenuity team's engineers took their time over a six-year period to design something extremely lightweight that could not only fly but also function and exist on its own in the harsh Martian environment. The limits of flight have already been pushed by these achievements:

• Making it through the Mars-bound voyage and arrival on the Red Planet
• safely launching to the surface from the Perseverance rover's belly
• Keeping warm on its own during the bitterly cold Martian evenings
• self-reliantly recharging with its solar panel
• establishing successful communication between the rover and the Mars Helicopter Base Station

 Future helicopters on Mars may be used for a variety of tasks, such as providing a new perspective not currently available from orbiters in the sky or from rovers and landers on the ground, as well as high-definition photographs and reconnaissance for robots and humans, as well as access to terrain that is inaccessible to rovers. Future helicopters might also assist in transporting small but essential payloads from one location to another.