Here is how #Perseverance's team discussed and decided to capture that spectacular #Flight54 movie:
https://mastodon.social/@65dBnoise/110867861721913717
and
https://mastodon.social/@65dBnoise/110867506981612700
From the Perseverance (#Mars2020) Analyst's Notebook that was updated in November: https://an.rsl.wustl.edu/m20/AN/an3.aspx
We don't know when #Perseverance will come again close enough to #Ingenuity to capture images and video of such quality, so, here is #Flight54 in all its glory, in real time fps.
Processed, leveled, cropped MCZ_RIGHT animation
Focal Length: 48mm
Sol: 872, RMC: 42.2760, LMST: 15:13:23
Original: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/pub/ods/surface/sol/00872/ids/edr/browse/zcam/ZR0_0872_0744361878_639ECV_N0422760ZCAM05157_048050J01.png
Credit: #NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/65dBnoise
The stabilized #Flight54 of #Ingenuity shows some interesting things:
โข The reflection of the horizon on the silvery thermal skin (do I see #Perseverance reflected in there? ๐)
โข The remarkable capability of the #MarsHelicopter to land at exactly the same spot where it took off (more on this in the next post)
โข The bouncing at the end
Processed, leveled, stabilized MCZ_LEFT, FL: 110mm
Sol: 872, RMC: 42.2760, LMST: 15:13:23
Credit: #NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/65dBnoise
While #Perseverance's RIGHT MastcamZ eye captured the movie above of #Ingenuity flying #Flight54, using a 48mm focal length, the LEFT MastcamZ eye crossed ๐ and captured the movie below using its max focal length of 110mm:
160x80px thumbnail animation.
Processed MCZ_LEFT, FL: 110mm
Sol: 872, RMC: 42.2760, LMST: 15:13:35
Original: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/pub/ods/surface/sol/00872/ids/edr/browse/zcam/ZL0_0872_0744361891_582ECV_T0422760ZCAM05157_110300J01.png
Credit: #NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/65dBnoise
So indeed, a movie of #Ingenuity's #Flight54 will be coming in soon ๐ !
Here is a 160x80px thumbnail preview of it, fresh from the image pipeline:
MCZ_RIGHT, FL: 48mm
Sol: 872, RMC: 42.2760, LMST: 15:13:03
Original (one of many): https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/pub/ods/surface/sol/00872/ids/edr/browse/zcam/ZR0_0872_0744361858_578ECV_T0422760ZCAM05157_048300J01.png
Credit: #NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/65dBnoise
There's never enough of #Ingenuity coming from Mars, so when we have it...
View of the #MarsHelicopter from yestersol, right before it took off for short #Flight54. Why do I suspect we might have a movie coming in? ๐
Processed, leveled MCZ_LEFT, FL: 110mm
Sol: 872, RMC: 42.2760, LMST: 15:09:58
Original: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/pub/ods/surface/sol/00872/ids/edr/browse/zcam/ZL0_0872_0744361630_615EBY_N0422760ZCAM05157_1100LMJ01.png
Credit: #NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/65dBnoise
#Ingenuity flew its "pop-up" #Flight54 on Sol 872, possibly to reset its instruments after the small adventure it appears it had during #flight53.
Here is an animation of its landing:
8 processed, undistorted, stabilized, animated HELI_NAV images
Sol: 872, RMC: 54.0001, LMST: 15:13:25
Original (1 of 8): https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/pub/ods/surface/sol/00872/ids/edr/browse/heli/HNM_0872_0744361880_451ECM_N0540001HELI01562_0000A0J01.png
Credit: #NASA/JPL-Caltech/65dBnoise
#MarsHelicopter #Perseverance #Mars2020 #Solarocks #Space #MarsHelicopterMovie
It is possible that during #Flight53 an anomaly occurred which may have led to #Ingenuity's disorientation or otherwise loss of ground reference. That could explain the low altitude of the flight (5m instead of 10m) and its much shorter duration and length. Resetting of the parameters used by the software to allow the IMU to substitute for the damaged inclinometer may be the reason for short #Flight54, "for heli localization".
Just speculating ๐
"Heli localization" is mentioned as the purpose for #Flight54. What could that mean? #Ingenuity's maintenance record may give some insight into why a localization of the heli may be necessary.
A year ago the #MarsHelicopter was trying to survive the harsh winter, and during that time one of its instruments, an inclinometer "whose sole purpose is [...] to determine how Ingenuity is oriented relative to the downward direction" was damaged.
Zeitgeisty Aphorisms
65dBnoise