Ingenuity- Mars 2020 Helicopter, Deployment & Operations Options

[tau]

Ingenuity on a dune in Neretva vallis, seen by Perseverance on sol 1052

[climber]

The story of Ingenuity by Eric Berger is really informative : https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/02/befor...ged-to-kill-it/

[mcaplinger]

The story of Ingenuity by Eric Berger is really informative...

Informative, perhaps, but is it true? Well, it might depend on one's perspective. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant

[tau]

Sol 1068 SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager image of Ingenuity (unfortunately out of focus),
and map with areas (darker brown) from where Perseverance's Mastcam-Z can see Ingenuity

[neo56]

Finally a focused picture of Ingenuity with SuperCam (sol 1072).

[PDP8E]

nice work Thomas!
is it me ...or are there only 3 long rotors (including shadows)?

[neo56]

Thanks!
Yes, one rotor blade is missing. It was most probably broken when Ingenuity impacted the ground.

[PDP8E]

Sol 1072 Ingenuity -- Final Landing Field
Over use of adding layers - high pass filters, auto hist ... a little harsh

[fredk]

A prize for anyone finding the missing rotor? Or is it embedded in the sand next to the 'copter?

[mcaplinger]

Old news, the missing rotor is off to the left: https://twitter.com/stim3on/status/17545634...h9-LBw&s=08

[PDP8E]

Mike is right, the missing rotor is off to the left of the 'copter
.... but...
I conjecture that the helicopter rotors spun into the sand ridge in the 'box' (the scars are there?)
and somehow, Ingenuity corkscrewed over to the nearer ridge and "stuck the landing", minus a rotor that flew off between the ridges (left).

The Route Map gurus could probably give us the distance/height.



... as always, I could be wrong...

[mcaplinger]

I conjecture that the helicopter rotors spun into the sand ridge in the 'box' (the scars are there?) and somehow, Ingenuity corkscrewed over to the nearer ridge...

Those marks look unrelated to me. The simplest explanation is that the heli flew into the ground at an angle ("CFIT") and broke the blades, but the landing gear stance was large enough and the CG low enough that the usual tipover was avoided and it stayed upright while the rotors spun down. There's no need to invoke more complex gymnastics IMHO.

[tau]

Sol 1072 SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager mosaic of Ingenuity and its lost rotor blade.
The distance between them is about 15 m (very rough estimate).

[tau]

Sol 1072 SuperCam RMI images of Ingenuity and its lost rotor blade (enlarged).

[serpens]

Those marks look unrelated to me. The simplest explanation is that the heli flew into the ground at an angle ("CFIT") and broke the blades,.....

Yes, the blade end position and nearby impact mark indicate a straight line to Ingenuity's position. But the actual impact sequence is less clear. There seem to be two blade collision points (upper and lower?) and the left side of the solar panel is pushed down 90 degrees. Hard to see anything but a strike by an upper blade segment causing that and Tau's image seems to reveal only the inner section of the blade. Carbon fibre is strong and light but the blade tip speed is around 240mps and the velocity squared dominates in kinetic energy. I may be missing something but the impact outcomes on the blade seem complex, possibly a bend fracture then break at both the bend and the blade root, all at an impressive rotational velocity. Is there a missing part of the blade hiding somewhere?