Earlier this morning Ingenuity took off for the fourth and most daring flight of its campaign. It took several hours for flight data to be received by the JPL team but all signs look that it was a successful flight.
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NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter has wowed us from Earth with its first flights over the Red Planet. After just 3 flights the tech demo has completed all of its test objectives and will now push the envelope for what it can do.
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After the success of its first flight at the beginning of this week, Ingenuity took its second flight early this morning. This flight pushed the tech demo to do more challenging tasks as they step through their testing campaign this month.
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Today, during a press briefing on the first flight of Mars Helicopter Ingenuity, new information was revealed for the upcoming flight of Ingenuity. This first flight is currently targeting April 8th. When Perseverance first touched down, they determined that it landed right on the edge of an acceptable flight zone for Ingenuity.
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NASA recently got through the final stage of its drone testing program to find the best solution to allow drones to fly in crowded airspace. The testing is in partnership with the FAA and three industry partners to show potential commercial applications using different size drones in various locations and different airspace classes.
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Drone software company Pix4D has created an impressive 3D model of NASA’s Perseverance rover‘s landing site. The 3D model was created using the landing footage NASA provided to the public and Pix4D’s Pix4Dmapper software.
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NASA’s Ingenuity Mars drone recently landed on Mars with the Perseverance rover. It is now preparing to take its first flight on the Martian planet. The downlink was received shortly after the landing, indicating the helicopter and base station are working correctly.
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If you stop and think about it, space explorations all involved unmanned vehicles. Most of them are programmed to carry out their maneuvers autonomously. In our mind, that qualifies them as drones. And today, in a testament to the power of engineering and hard work, NASA’s Perseverance is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet.
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We are, as always, in a changing world. But few sectors are changing quite as rapidly as commercial and enterprise drones.
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If you’re a regular reader of DroneDJ, you’ve likely heard the phrase “Urban Air Mobility” by now. But what exactly does it mean? And why is it important? Let’s do a check-in.
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Scientists from the University of Arizona are set to test their Mars drones in Iceland after receiving a $3 million grant from NASA. The grant was given as a part of a project that combines rovers and drones to explore more of the red planet.
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It’s the last day of 2020, so we thought we’d share the drones we think stood out from the rest, putting them at the top of the list. These drones might not be the best in every way, but we think they each have aspects that make them shine in the market. Here they are in no specific order.
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In an overview of the year, American space agency NASA has shared a few drones and drone-related milestones its flight team has had. Along with the usual space-related work NASA is known for, it also works on many drone projects to advance future use of the technology.
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Drone and robotic wireless charging company WiBotic is working with NASA, Astrobotic, Bosch, and the University of Washington to commercialize wireless charging systems for lunar robots. The new partnership is worth $5.8 million and is a part of NASA’s Tipping Point program.
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The second phase of a large-scale Unmanned Traffic Management pilot program has just completed. Tests took place at the Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership and the New York UAS Test Site. The results complete another step toward an integrated, unified UTM system. And that’s big news.
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NASA has delayed the launch of its Dragonfly drone meant to fly on Saturn’s Titan moon by one year to 2027 due to external factors, including COVID-19. The Dragonfly mission aims to explore Saturn’s Titan moon to look for the building blocks of life.
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Engineers from Caltech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab built a three-inch drone that could be launched from a barrel. It’s called SQUID, or the Streamlined Quick Unfolding Investigation Drone. And this year, the team has debuted a larger six-inch version of the drone.
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NASA‘s Mars helicopter Ingenuity successfully powered on and charged its batteries marking the first time the helicopter has been powered on in space. The batteries were charged to 35%, an optimal level to keep the batteries healthy during the journey to Mars.
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NASA has just launched its Perseverance Mars rover that will feature a new helicopter that could be the first man-made vehicle to take flight on another planet. The helicopter has been in development for the last five years and features a dual rotor design that will hopefully be capable of flying in the thin Mars atmosphere.
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Not only are people still coming up with new drone applications, but they are also still coming up with new drone designs. How about the SQUID drone that is launched from a cannon mounted in the bed of a moving truck. Once the SQUID reached a certain altitude, it deploys and flies away like a ‘normal’ drone.
Since its beginning in 2015, Anil Nanduri has led Intel’s drone group with titles of Vice President and General Manager. Through exploring different commercial applications, Intel has done things like light shows with hundreds of so-called ‘Shooting Star’ drones flying in synchronization as well as advanced aerial surveying with their drone hardware and software applications. As a part of NASA’s Advisory Council Aeronautics Committee, Nanduri will meet regularly with NASA Administrators to offer advice.
If you forgot about NASA after all of the noise SpaceX has made over the past months, yes, they still do exist and yes, they still do cool stuff! In a rover that is set to depart for Mars in 2020, a small drone has been developed to help the robot on its mission on the red planet. This is the first time that a flying drone has been developed for use on another planet and just like all of the other stuff launched into space, yes it has solar panels.
NASA has contracted Black Swift Technologies out of Boulder, Colorado to design and manufacture an unmanned aerial vehicle to orbit Venus and collect data about its atmosphere. The project will last six months costing the government $125,000 which will cover the full cost of developing the drone.
For their 2020 Mars rover mission, NASA is adding a little autonomous helicopter drone to their arsenal of instruments. Compared to a rover, more ground can be covered faster with the use of an unmanned aerial device. However, since the atmosphere is so much thinner on Mars – ground level on the red planet compares to an altitude of 100,000 feet on earth – the light-weight helicopter drone has extraordinary large blades and will only be used for a limited number of short test flights. If proven successful it may open the door to the use of more drone helicopters on future Mars missions.