NASA/JPL-CALTECH PHOTO


“Orbiters can’t resolve surface features less


than 3 ft.,” notes Ben Pipenberg, lead engineer for the Ingenuity project at AeroVironment, the NASA contractor that designed and built the Mars Helicopter’s earlier prototypes and most of the major components of Ingenuity, including its blades and landing gear. “Rovers are good but slow,” he says. “A helicopter can cover in a few minutes what a rover covers in a few years.”


Birth of a Superstar To really appreciate Ingenuity’s accomplish- ments, one needs to look behind the scenes at its creation. Since 2014, numerous prototype helicopters


have been built and put through the wringer in punishing tests simulating a rocket’s launch from Earth, the unforgiving environment of space, and the harsh conditions on Mars. Te need to function in extreme environments drove Ingenuity’s design, a project for which NASA budgeted $85 million. “A rocket launch is a violent event, partic-


ularly for a helicopter,” Pipenberg says. “Tere’s lots of high- and low-frequency vibration. Te helicopter is a pretty brittle piece of hardware compared to the 2,200-lb. rover [Perseverance],” about the size of a compact car. A delicate aircraft, Ingenuity is just 19 in.


tall and weighs about 4 lb. Its two 4-ft. coun- terrotating blades whisk the ship through a mostly carbon dioxide atmosphere that’s only 1% as dense as Earth’s. Tat’s like taking off from a heliport sitting atop five Denalis, the highest mountain peak in North America at 20,310 ft., stacked atop each other, or about 100,000 ft. At that altitude, there’s hardly any air for helicopter blades to push against. AeroVironment, a California-based manu-


facturer of unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), solved that problem by making an advanced, light, super-strong blade for Ingenuity. Te blade can withstand the tremendous rotational force needed to generate sufficient lift to fly in the thin Martian atmosphere. Ingenuity’s two counterrotating blades spin


at nearly 2,500 rpm, compared with about 370 rpm to produce the same lift on Earth. Te blades also feature molded carbon components, a foam interior, and a paper-thin skin of carbon


Håvard Grip records data of Ingenuity’s first flight into the official pilot’s logbook for the project.


Flying From the Right Seat


170 Million Miles Away When Ingenuity flies, Håvard Grip is at the controls. A NASA research technologist, Grip is the agency’s Mars pilot and has been with the program since it began in 2013.


Grip actually helped design and test Ingenuity’s control system and points to the many parallels to flying conventional helicopters. Much of his work, for example, centers on aeronautical decision-making. “We plan each flight,” says Grip, who’s also a private airplane pilot. “There’s overlap to a standard flight plan. You have to know the aircraft and its performance and evaluate the environment.”


Before each flight, Grip goes through a flight risk assessment, just like any other pilot flying on Earth would do. He checks weather, winds, and density altitude. He studies the terrain Ingenuity will be flying over and considers potential landing spots in case there’s a problem. He then applies that information to Ingenuity’s performance graphs. The graphs show the requirements


to accomplish quality takeoffs and landings, how Ingenuity will perform in turns, and how the aircraft will perform at altitudes and distances. With that information, Grip is now able to create a flight profile. The scenario is entered into a computer and shown graphically, or the whole trip can be simulated before it’s sent to the Perseverance rover, which then relays it to Ingenuity. Grip also makes good use of checklists before and after a flight. “We focus on the things that matter, and we have extensive checklists,” he says. As Ingenuity is a technology demonstrator, Grip’s role is more test pilot than


pilot. Pressing the helicopter toward more-demanding flights is the only way to learn the ropes of flying on Mars. “This is an experimental aircraft, so we’re not concerned with staying within the envelope,” he explains. “Here [at NASA], we push it.”


Because of the radio transmission lag time between Earth and Mars, Grip isn’t flying in real time, but he is capturing flight data, such as rotor speed, altitude, the performance of the cyclic and collective, and all data captured by Ingenuity’s camera. NASA plans to send additional rotorcraft to Mars, but until then, Grip is the first extraterrestrial, REALLY remote pilot. —P.K.


JUNE 2021 ROTOR 41


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