A navigation timing error sent Nasa’s Mars helicopter on a lurching ride, its first major problem since it took to the Martian skies last month. The

Nasa’s Mars helicopter goes on ‘stressful’ wild flight after malfunction

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2021-05-28 17:30:04

A navigation timing error sent Nasa’s Mars helicopter on a lurching ride, its first major problem since it took to the Martian skies last month.

The experimental helicopter, named Ingenuity, managed to land safely after the problem occurred, officials at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory said on Thursday.

The trouble cropped up about a minute into the helicopter’s sixth test flight on Saturday at an altitude of 10 metres (33ft). One of the numerous pictures taken by an onboard navigation camera did not register in the system, confusing the craft about its location.

Ingenuity began tilting back and forth by as much as 20 degrees and suffered power consumption spikes, according to Havard Grip, the helicopter’s chief pilot.

Just keep flying 🚁#MarsHelicopter completed its 6th flight. Despite unexpected motion from an image processing issue, Ingenuity muscled through the final ~65 meters of its 215-meter journey, landed safely & is ready to fly again. The chief pilot explains https://t.co/533hn7qixk pic.twitter.com/IHkkjXaHDd

A built-in system to provide extra margin for stability “came to the rescue”, he wrote in an online status update. The helicopter landed within five metres (16ft) of its intended touchdown site.