Experiencing a Critical Period for Months, the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Can Fly Again

JAKARTA - After months of being critical, finally the Ingenuity helicopter on Planet Mars has a little power to make a flight.

NASA's Mars exploration vehicle suddenly made a brief flight of 18 seconds, and reached a height of 16 feet.

This was Ingenuity's first flight after a major software upgrade, which significantly tweaked its ground sensors to eliminate a potentially critical flaw.

Although brief, the event was counted as Ingenuity's 34th flight since landing with the Perseverance rover on Mars on April 18, 2021.

Both rovers and helicopters have performed admirably over the last year and a half, gathering much-needed scientific data on Mars' climate, geology and overall makeup.

Much of the information it has gathered could be critical for future manned missions to the Red Planet. As maps get better, climate and soil analysis more precise, and technology more sustainable, humanity is ever closer to finally setting foot on another world.

According to NASA quoted from Slashgear, Monday, November 28, what made Ingenuity's recent flight so tense was a comprehensive correction to its navigation system. Prior to the update, the navigation program operated under the assumption that the vehicle would always stay on level ground.

However, Mars has a different terrain than Earth, the largest mountains and deepest canyons in the Solar System. As every programmer knows, flashing new firmware is nothing if not for something crucial.

So far, that hasn't happened because Ingenuity is still carrying out its mission and sending important data back to Earth.

The little helicopter is basically a Perseverance lookout, identifying and sending back basic data about Mars. Now that the navigation has been sorted out, it is hoped that there will be more detailed information about one of Earth's closest planetary neighbors.