Last week, NASA announced that their Mars helicopter Ingenuity has made contact again after being silent for nearly two months. During the radio silence, Ingenuity seems to have had difficulty accessing the Mars rover Perseverance.
Ingenuity’s communication with Earth is done through the Mars rover, and if the helicopter cannot establish contact with it, no messages from the helicopter can be sent to Earth. Now that the contact has finally been restored, Ingenuity was able to send back images (see below) from its 52nd flight on Mars, a flight that lasted 139 seconds and during which the helicopter reached an altitude of 363 meters above the planet’s surface.
Initially, Ingenuity was supposed to conduct a series of test flights for a month when it landed alongside Perseverance on Mars in February 2021. Two years later, the helicopter is still functioning and has become a loyal companion to Perseverance, which continues to roam around Mars and collect samples from various locations on the planet.
Are you there, Earth? It’s the #MarsHelicopter. 👋
— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) June 30, 2023
Ingenuity has reestablished contact with @NASAPersevere following two months of radio silence.
🔗 https://t.co/eQylNmtaaW pic.twitter.com/zcdeiuyBwQ
