NASA sent a helicopter to Mars, and it worked well.
Ingenuity was the helicopter that accompanied NASA's Perseverance rover toMars. They will be able to grab and transport small tubes filled with bits of Mars rock. They are similar to the ones Amazon has been developing to deliver packages.
A major rejiggering of NASA's next great mission to Mars is a collaboration with the European Space Agency to bring Martian rocks back to Earth for close examination.
An update on the Mars Sample Return mission was provided at a news conference on Wednesday by the associate administrator for NASA.
The Perseverance rover is exploring a crater called Jezero. There is a dried up river delta along the crater rim, a prime location where signs of ancient life might be preserved.
The original plan was for the samples to be loaded onto a rocket and flown to Mars. The container would be grabbed by another spaceship and taken to Earth. The design of the rover was getting too heavy to fit on a single lander. NASA said earlier this year that it would use two landers, one for the rover and one for the return rocket.
The redesign fetch rover is eliminated. The plan is for Perseverance to drive to the lander and load the rock samples onto the return rocket. NASA managers are confident that Perseverance will still be up and running when the Mars Sample Return landers arrives in 2030.
If there was a problem with Perseverance, the helicopter would be a backup option. Perseverance dropped the rock samples on the ground and sealed them within tubes about the size of cigars. The samples would be flown back to the landers by helicopter.
It would take a few more years for the capsule to land.
Ingenuity was carried to Mars on the underside of Perseverance. The helicopter was going to fly a few times during a one-month technology demonstration soon after the mission landed on Mars, but Perseverance would leave Ingenuity behind and get on with its main scientific mission. Ingenuity has traveled 29 times.
Perseverance is a 2,200-pound rover that is part of the NASA mission.
The helicopter is ingenuity.
The Perseverance rover will be able to communicate with the four pound aircraft.
There are blades.
There are four carbon-fiber blades spinning.
There is power.
The rover's batteries will be charged by the plutonium power supply.
There is a moment in time called MAST.
Instruments will take pictures. The chemistry of Mars will be studied.
PiXl is a type of musical instrument.
Will look for signs of past life on the red planet.
An antenna.
Data will be transmitted to Earth.
A robotic arm is used.
There is a robotic arm and a turret. There are samples from Mars. The device will be able to detect potential biosignatures with the assistance of the camera.
ThePerseverance Rover is a vehicle.
The rover will go to Jezero crater. The suspension system is made of aluminum.
NASA decided to keep the helicopter following Perseverance because the Ingenuity flights were so successful.
New studies and recent achievements at Mars allowed us to consider options that weren't available to us a year ago.
Small wheels at the bottom of the landing legs would be added to the sample return helicopter. A small robotic arm would pick up the sample tube after each helicopter drove a short distance to cross it.
The Mars Sample Return mission only requires one lander, not two, since the fetch rover was eliminated. It helps keep costs down by making the mission design simpler.
NASA wouldn't say how much the mission will cost. Jeff Gramling is the director for the Mars Sample Return program at NASA. It is less expensive to have one lander than two.
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