NASA to 'wiggle' broken Ingenuity Mars helicopter's blades to analyze damage

[Admin]

NASA isn't quite finished with its broken Ingenuity Mars helicopter yet, mission managers revealed in a livestream honoring the drone's legacy on Jan. 31.

NASA to 'wiggle' broken Ingenuity Mars helicopter's blades to analyze damage : Read more

 

[suneritz]

I would put this helicopter on top of the perseverance rover by use of robotic hand, never know if you might need it. Funny how it made exactly 70 flights and then lost its wing probably by structural fatigue.

 

[billslugg]

NASA has already said the most probably cause was a loss of orientation due to lack of features down on the ground as it flow over a flat sandy area. This already caused some problems on an earlier flight. It likely got sideways and the blades hit the ground.

 

[Ltsgosrfn]

From day one I wondered why they didn’t install some kind of protective ring encircling the blades like drones have. A simple carbon fiber ring could have allowed ingenuity to survive a mishap like this with nothing but a scratch. Not only do those rings prevent mishaps like this they also prevent leakage from the blade tips allowing for more thrust to be directed downwards.

 

[George²]

From day one I wondered why they didn’t install some kind of protective ring encircling the blades like drones have. A simple carbon fiber ring could have allowed ingenuity to survive a mishap like this with nothing but a scratch. Not only do those rings prevent mishaps like this they also prevent leakage from the blade tips allowing for more thrust to be directed downwards.

Because weight. Any gram more=feet lower flight. Martian atmosphere is very thin.

 

[bolide]

NASA has already said the most probably cause was a loss of orientation due to lack of features down on the ground as it flow over a flat sandy area. This already caused some problems on an earlier flight. It likely got sideways and the blades hit the ground.

Seems odd to think that it couldn't know its orientation to the surface, because the surface was flat.

 

[billslugg]

It needs to be able to "see" in 3D. In order to do that it needs features on the ground to use as reference points. It had no features to look at. The surface was too smooth and plain.

 

[Unclear Engineer]

Was there an actual analysis of the effects of a wingtip ring on the aerodynamics of the craft in the Martian atmosphere? The ring does add weight, but it also adds lift by suppressing the tip vortices. And, it does add substantial strength against damage

I was instead thinking that the lack of tip rings was more a matter of interfering with the folding and unfolding the craft so that it fit inside its protective cowling on the trip out of Earth's atmosphere and into Mars' atmosphere before it gets into service on Mars.

 

[Pogo]

That, too.