NASA’s connection with Mars Ingenuity re-established after a radio silence of more than two months

NASA announced on Friday that they have re-established contact with the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter after a radio silence of over two months. The small rotorcraft was transported to Mars along with the Perseverance rover in early 2021, and despite its initial 30-day mission, it has continued to function well and support the rover’s exploration.

The Ingenuity helicopter has been deployed multiple times since its arrival on Mars and has served as an aerial scout, assisting the Perseverance rover in searching for signs of ancient microbial life on the red planet, which was once much more hospitable than it is today.

On April 26, during its 52nd flight, communication with Ingenuity was lost as it descended to the surface after a two-minute, 1,191-foot hop. According to Josh Anderson, the Ingenuity team lead at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the rugged terrain in the Jezero Crater, where the rover and helicopter are currently exploring, increases the likelihood of communication dropouts.

The goal of the team is to keep Ingenuity ahead of the rover, even if it means temporarily pushing beyond communication limits. Therefore, the loss of communication was expected due to a hill obstructing the relay between Ingenuity and Perseverance.

Despite this anticipation, Anderson noted that the period without communication has been the longest experienced during the mission. However, the team expressed relief when contact was finally re-established, as Ingenuity is designed to autonomously handle communication gaps.

The received data indicates that the helicopter is in good condition. Assuming further health checks confirm this, Ingenuity will prepare for its next flight westward toward a rocky outcrop of interest to the Perseverance team.

This is not the first time Ingenuity has encountered communication difficulties. In April, the helicopter went missing for approximately six days while exploring an ancient river delta, which was described by Travis Brown, the chief engineer, as an “agonizingly long time” in a blog post.