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A navigation timing error sent NASA’s small helicopter to Mars on a mad, unstable run – its first major problem since it took to the Martian skies last month.
The experimental helicopter, named Ingenuity, managed to land safely, officials from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory reported.
The problem occurred about a minute after the helicopter’s sixth test flight last Saturday at an altitude of 33 feet.
One of the many photos taken by an on-board camera did not register in the navigation system, which canceled the entire timing sequence and confused the craft at its location.
Ingenuity began to tilt back and forth up to 20 degrees and suffered spikes in power consumption, according to Havard Grip, the helicopter’s chief pilot.
An integrated system providing extra room for stability “came to the rescue,” he wrote in an online status update. The helicopter landed within 16 feet of its intended touchdown site.
Ingenuity became the first aircraft to perform a powered flight to an alternate planet in April, two months after landing on Mars with NASA’s Perseverance rover.
The 1.8 kilogram helicopter made its first five flights, each more difficult than before. NASA was so impressed with the demo that it extended its mission by at least a month.
Saturday’s troubled flight was the first for this bonus period. Engineers have spent the last few days fixing the problem.
