NASA says it’s reestablished contact with the Ingenuity Mars helicopter

After a brief interval of worrying silence, NASA stated on Saturday night time that it was in a position to regain contact with the Ingenuity helicopter. The autonomous plane unexpectedly ceased communications with the Perseverance rover, which relays all transmissions between Ingenuity and Earth, on Thursday throughout its 72nd flight on Mars. It had already been appearing up previous to this, having minimize its earlier flight quick for an unknown purpose, and NASA meant to do a techniques verify throughout the newest ascent.

Excellent news at the moment: We have reestablished contact with the #MarsHelicopter after instructing @NASAPersevere to carry out long-duration listening periods for Ingenuity’s sign.

The staff is reviewing the brand new information to higher perceive the surprising comms dropout throughout Flight 72. https://t.co/KvCVwhZ5Rk

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) January 21, 2024

The area company stated in an replace posted on X that it’s now reviewing the info from Ingenuity to know what occurred. Perseverance picked up its sign after the staff instructed it to carry out “long-duration listening periods.” Ingenuity has skilled blackouts earlier than, as lately as final 12 months, and was in a position to return to flight. But it surely’s too early to say if that would be the case this time. The mini helicopter is already operating effectively previous the unique timeline of its mission.

This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasa-says-its-reestablished-contact-with-the-ingenuity-mars-helicopter-165728606.html?src=rss

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