On Mars since 2021, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, active in tactical and scientific reconnaissance for the Perseverance mission, remained silent for a brief period.
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Through a post on the blog of the most popular space agency in the world, Travis Brown, Ingenuity's chief engineer brought more details about the case.
It's not the first time there's been a breakdown in communication.
Travis Brown reported that contact with the helicopter had been completely lost over a period of six days.
In this case, Ingenuity's disappearance from the radar occurred while she was between the 755th sun and the 761st sun. For context, one “Sun” on Mars equals one Martian day, which would be approximately 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35 minutes.
However, miscommunication was not uncommon. In this same period, about a year ago, there was a brief miscommunication that lasted two days. The explanation was in charge of
battery insufficient when night fell early in the Martian winter. As a result, the reduced voltage caused the mission clock to reset and become out of sync with the Perseverance receiver.Only this time, the fact took the scientists by surprise when they realized they were witnessing a total blackout - as if it were missing or dead. Brown, in his publication, said that even in adverse environments for communication, they always saw activity indicators.
“In more than 700 sols operating the helicopter in Mars, we had never experienced a total radio blackout before,” Brown said.
A week later, on sol 761, it was finally discovered that he was not dead, through confirmations via ACK (radio acknowledgment). The professionals did some forensic examinations and came to the conclusion of his disappearance.
What were the real reasons for the blackout of the Ingenuity helicopter?
Brown wrote that the communications blackout was a result of two factors. “First, the topology between the rover and the helicopter was very challenging for the helicopter radio.”’
It then goes on to say that “a moderate ridge located just southeast of the Flight 49 landing site separated the helicopter from the rover's operational area. The impact of that ridge would only lessen when the rover got uncomfortably close to the helicopter.”
Finally, it was also added that the antenna on the rover, responsible for communicating with the helicopter, is located on its right side. That is, its position means that the signals between the two robots have been partially blocked.
