When I lost my favorite drone copter, it made me think about the very first Mars helicopter back in 2021 named Ingenuity.
Ingenuity was the first of its kind to test powered, controlled flight on another world. And better yet, it all happened right here in Jezero Crater.
Today, the original Ingenuity is in the Gordo Station museum, but there are lots of copies flying all over Mars now, and my lost "Choppie" was one of them.
Ingenuity was the first of its kind to test powered, controlled flight on another world. And better yet, it all happened right here in Jezero Crater.
Today, the original Ingenuity is in the Gordo Station museum, but there are lots of copies flying all over Mars now, and my lost "Choppie" was one of them.
I was exploring some rough terrain, and I sent Choppie to scout ahead and send me some photos of the landscape. I was going to use the images to look for interesting rocks and find a safe path up the hillside.
Then - bam, just like that - she quit transmitting! Now what?
I thought about it for a while, then I went up the hill to find her. Every team of Mars explorers has had drone helicopters to help them, like faithful dogs that helped early explorers on Earth. No way I was leaving my Choppie behind.
It took an hour of searching around some big rocks before I found my little helicopter. Her solar panel was really dirty, and I bet that reduced her battery charge. She went into "sleep mode" after a safe landing.
I was relieved that everything was going to be ok!
I texted Pip about it later, and he said, "That reminds me. Why are solar panels always optimistic?"
"Why?" I asked.
"They keep their sunny side up."
More info here: https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/
If you ever lose a drone on Mars, tell me what happened at
RamoneRocketeer -at- gmail -dot- com.
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