--- title: "Navigation Sensor on Mars Helicopter Dead, NASA Says" description: "NASA's Mars helicopter has run into a bit of trouble 28 successful flights and well over an entire dusty Earth year into its mission on the Red Planet." date: "2022-06-07" modified: "2022-06-07" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/navigation-sensor-mars-helicopter-dead" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Mars" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "ingenuity" - "JPL" - "mars" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # Navigation Sensor on Mars Helicopter Dead, NASA Says ![NASA's Mars helicopter has run into a bit of trouble 28 successful flights and well over an entire dusty Earth year into its mission on the Red Planet.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Dead Space NASA's Mars helicopter has run into a bit of trouble after 28 successful flights and well over an entire dusty Earth year into its mission on the Red Planet. One of the four-pound rotorcraft's navigation sensors has given out — an unfortunate new development, especially considering Martian winter is almost upon it. Extreme temperature swings [could soon wreak havoc]() on the rest of the helicopter's electronics. But the team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab says their plucky rotorcraft isn't finished yet. "A nonworking navigation sensor sounds like a big deal — and it is — but it's not necessarily an end to our flying at Mars," Håvard Grip, Ingenuity's chief pilot, wrote in a [blog post](). ## Pitch and Roll The sensor, which is a type of inclinometer, is made up of two accelerometers that measure gravity before and after after takeoff, allowing the Marscopter to fine tune its pitch and roll. But it's also a small part of a much more sophisticated navigation suite that also includes a laser rangefinder and navigation camera, which work together to provide Ingenuity with precise navigation data. Without the inclinometer, "we are forced to find a new way to initialize the navigation algorithms prior to takeoff," Grip writes. Fortunately, a different instrument, called the inertia measurement unit, could pick up the slack and use its own accelerometers to figure out the helicopter's initial attitude, despite being a little less accurate. ## Copter Updates Now, the team at JPL will have to send a small software patch to Mars to Ingenuity, instructing it to use its sensors differently. In fact, the team barely had to lift a finger, as "we prepared the required software patch prior to last year’s arrival on Mars and kept it on the shelf for this eventuality," Grip wrote. That means the team expects Ingenuity to fly yet again — its 29th flight, in case you're counting — soon enough. **READ MORE:** [Keeping Our Sense of Direction: Dealing With a Dead Sensor]() \[NASA\] **More on Ingenuity:** *[New Video Shows Mars Helicopter Screaming Across Alien Landscape]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()