Ingenuity Mars Helicopter runs 2nd rotor blades spin test applying software updates

Yesterday (April 16th) Mission Control commanded another test of Ingenuity's rotors and blades and ran a spin test applying the software updates... Looks good so far!!!

Here is NASA's writeup:

"On April 16, 2021 NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover captured Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s blades spinning after applying software updates. Ingenuity Previously Ingenuity did not pass high-speed spin test causing so the first flight rescheduled for no earlier than April 19. The small amount of dust on the panel may have accumulated above the helicopter during landing and fallen onto it during helicopter deployment. This dust has had no adverse impact on the helicopter's power. Solar cells in the array are optimized for the solar spectrum encountered at Mars, and the stored energy is used to operate heaters for the cold Martian nights as well as power the helicopter during flight operations. Power expended by the helicopter during an up-to-90-second flight is about 350 watts.

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter's carbon fiber blades can be seen in this video taken by the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover on April 8, 2021, the 48th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The four blades are arranged into two 4-foot-long (1.2-meter-long) counter-rotating rotors that can spin at roughly 2,400 rpm. The video shows the blades performing a wiggle test before the actual spin-up to ensure they were working properly."

Credit: nasa.gov, NASA/JPL-Caltech, NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

More to follow as the progress is made toward Ingenuity's first official flight!
Enjoy,
Kerry
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