机智号毁损转子叶片的影子

2024年2月10日

The Shadow of Ingenuity’s Damaged Rotor Blade
Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Ingenuity

Explanation: On January 18, 2024, during its 72nd flight in the thin Martian atmosphere, autonomous Mars Helicopter Ingenuity rose to an altitude of 12 meters (40 feet) and hovered for 4.5 seconds above the Red Planet. Ingenuity’s 72nd landing was a rough one though. During descent it lost contact with the Perseverance rover about 1 meter above the Martian surface. Ingenuity was able to transmit this image after contact was re-established, showing the shadow of one of its rotor blades likely damaged during landing. And so, after wildly exceeding expectations during over 1,000 days of exploring Mars, the history-making Ingenuity has ended its flight operations. Nicknamed Ginny, Mars Helicopter Ingenuity became the first aircraft to achieve powered, controlled flight on another planet on April 19, 2021. Before launch, a small piece of material from the lower-left wing of the Wright Brothers Flyer 1, the first aircraft to achieve powered, controlled flight on planet Earth, was fixed to the underside of Ingenuity’s solar panel.

Tomorrow’s picture: the shadow of a rocket plume

机智号毁损转子叶片的影子
影像提供: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Ingenuity

说明: 2024年1月18日，在稀薄的火星大气中进行第72次飞行时，机智号火星直升机上升到12公尺的高度，并在这颗红色行星上空盘旋了4.5秒。不过，机智号第72次飞行的著陆并不顺利。在下降的过程中，它于火星表面上空约1公尺高时，与毅力号火星车失去了联系。在重新建立联系后，机智号回传了这张影像，主题是它的一个转子叶片的影子，显示叶片可能在着陆的过程中毁损了。也因此，在探索火星的1,000多天之后，创史性的机智号以远超出预期的成就划下了飞行任务的句点。昵称为”金妮”的机智号火星直升机，是在2021年的4月19日，成为首架在另一颗行星上实现自主动力控制飞行的飞机。而在地球发射升空前，机智号的太阳能板下方，也特地附着了一小块来自首架在地球上进行动力受控飞行的飞机（莱特兄弟飞行者1号）左下机翼的材料。 （Mars Helicopter Ingenuity 机智号火星直升机）

明日的图片: the shadow of a rocket plume