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 reduce its earlier flight quick for an unknown motive, and NASA supposed to do a programs test throughout the newest ascent.
Excellent news at present: We have reestablished contact with the #MarsHelicopter after instructing @NASAPersevere to carry out long-duration listening periods for Ingenuity’s sign.
The crew is reviewing the brand new knowledge to raised perceive the surprising comms dropout throughout Flight 72. https://t.co/KvCVwhZ5Rk
— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) January 21, 2024
The house company stated in an replace posted on X that it’s now reviewing the information from Ingenuity to grasp what occurred. Perseverance picked up its sign after the crew 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 working 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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