The intelligence that Ingenuity performs could one day prove useful for human missions by identifying
“We wanted to gather information about operational support for the helicopter while Perseverance focused on its science mission.”
Laurie Glaze, Director of Planetary Science at NASA.
The fifth is planned in the coming days, then itthe mission will be extended, initially by one Martian month. The next flight will depend on whether it is still in good shape and helps, rather than hinders, the rover's goals of collecting soil and rock samples for future laboratory analysis on Earth.
Chief Engineer Bob Balaram predicted thatthe limiting factor will be its ability to withstand cold Martian nights when temperatures drop to –90 ° C. Ingenuity keeps warm with a solar-powered heater, but it was only rated for a month, and engineers aren't sure how many freeze-thaw cycles it can go through before something breaks.
NASA originally thought Perseverance would leavefrom where it landed in Jezero Crater on February 18, north of the planet's equator. This would mean that the rover left Ingenuity behind and out of communication range. The agency now wants to preserve Perseverance in the area for some time after discovering a rocky outcrop that they believe contains one of the oldest materials at the bottom of the crater.
They hope to collect their first sample of Mars inJuly. Ingenuity's exploits have captured the public's imagination since its maiden flight on April 19, but NASA said this did not affect its decision to allow the two robots to continue exploring Mars together.
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