Jul 28, 2021 23:00:00

How does NASA's Martian helicopter 'Ingenuity' fly in the Martian sky? A movie that allows you to visually understand

By NASA / JPL-Caltech

The helicopter '

Ingenuity ' mounted on the Mars probe Perseverance launched by NASA in July 2020 is the first aircraft in human history to achieve powered flight on an extraterrestrial planet, and it will fly 10 times after the first successful flight It has been successful and is expected to continue operation. About such Ingenuity, astronomical photographer Simeon Schmauß (@ stim3on ) created an image image that can visually understand ' How do you actually fly on Mars? ' With a 3DCG animation tool, on Twitter It is open to the public.

Simeon Schmauß (@ stim3on) / Twitter
https://twitter.com/stim3on

The actual video is below. I used Blender, a 3DCG animation tool, to create it. The base is the image of the 9th flight carried out on July 5, 2021 (133rd sol from landing).

Here is a look back at the 9th Flight of #MarsHelicopter
It was the longest flight to date and took Ingenuity over a large dune-covered area called Séítah.
I reconstructed the flight path with photogrammetry from the helicopters NAV images and animated it in @Blender (2x speed) pic.twitter.com/BqZB2J6gsL

— Simeon Schmauß (@ stim3on) July 25, 2021

The movie starts with Ingenuity taking off from Séítah, which is adjacent to the Jezero Crater where Perseverance landed. Séítah was a difficult terrain for the rover Perseverance, so it was positioned as a flight test to take advantage of Ingenuity's flight. In addition, the black code connected to Ingenuity in the movie is a virtual line showing the flight route, and the movie itself is playing at twice the speed of reality.

Rotate the two propellers on the top to lift off. After flying to the vertical side for a while and reaching a certain altitude, I switched course to the horizontal side.

It moves horizontally as it is at a speed of 5 m / s (18 km / h). The reason why it draws a gentle curve up and down is that it is set to maintain a height of 10 m above the ground.

Switch the course to the vertical side again and descend ...

Successful landing. The total distance traveled was 625 meters and the flight time was 167 seconds.

This image is based on NASA's series of photographs taken by Ingenuity during its ninth flight and instrument data during the flight . stim3on has also created a movie by connecting the images that connect these continuous photos ...

The real NAV images were downlinked in a really low framerate, so I recreated the full view that the camera would have seen during this flight.
(2x speed) pic.twitter.com/E2cjy0CTmQ

— Simeon Schmauß (@ stim3on) July 25, 2021

From this video, 'If a camera was installed in front of Ingenuity' ...

Here is the simulated view that the forward looking RTE color camera would have seen if it were able to take video. I also added the real RTE images in the video for comparison. (2x speed) pic.twitter.com/whJpqKO8a0

— Simeon Schmauß (@ stim3on) July 25, 2021

Furthermore, using Sketchfab , a platform for publishing 3D / VR / AR content, we are also publishing 3D simulations that allow you to move the viewpoint.

Can Also View You This Flight Animation In 3D On AttoSketchfab ! From Every Angle You Want And Get A Grasp How Amazingly Ingenuity Navigated Over The Rough Terrain This Even Works Directly Here On Twitter, Just Tap The Play Button Below! Https: // T .co / 5DBaCIT6Qt

— Simeon Schmauß (@ stim3on) July 25, 2021