Ingenuity helicopter phones home from Mars after 63-day silence | CNN
Ingenuity helicopter phones home from Mars after 63-day silence | CNN
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/03/world/ingenuity-helicopter-communication-mars-scn/index.html
The Mars Ingenuity helicopter has reestablished contact with NASA after a 63-day silence that began shortly before its 52nd flight ended in April.
Excerpts:
Ingenuity communicates with mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, by relaying all messages through the Perseverance rover.
And when Ingenuity took off for flight 52, a hill presented an obstacle blocking the helicopter and rover from communicating with each other.
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Sometimes, Ingenuity is off exploring and taking images of sites that the rover may not reach for weeks.
Once Perseverance crested the obstructive hill, the helicopter and rover had a chance to communicate and relay Ingenuity’s messages back to Earth — including the data captured during its 139-second-long flight spanning 1,191 feet (363 meters) on April 26.