Tag: Mars Perseverance Rover Ingenuity

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Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover News

Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Getting Started for Science Campaign

After 4 month-preparation, on June 1st, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover started to leave the landing site and to get ready for its science campaign – to collect rock samples. The goal is to have 43 samples after this campaign is completed.

We are building a 1:2 Peseverance Mars Rover Replica, which will perfectly replicate the appearance structure of the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover in very fine details, but with no scientific functions, so you will also find 43 sample tube replicas inside the Perseverance Mars Rover Replica.

Before June 1st, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover had tested MOXIE, taken over 75k photos, supported Ingenuity’s flight tests on top of completing all its systems’ health checks. For our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica, you will also be able to take photos and videos. There will also be a small screen on the Mars Rover Replica for you to see if everything is connected well and operates normally.

In the next few months, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover will be exploring an area of 4 km^2 – the first collecting site, and it will have traveled for 2.5 to 5 km of distance. The reason to choose this location is that it was under over 100 meters of water 3.8 billion years ago, and by studying the rocks here, we will learn so much about Mars.

With our Mars Rover Replica, you can simulate most of the moves that the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover does although with no real scientific functions. If you are interested in our Mars Rover Replica, please check [1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica Design and Building Diary].

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Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover News

Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s InSight Lander Countertuitive Way to Conserve Power

As the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover, the Ingenuity Helicopter, and the InSight Lander have been on Mars for over 3 months, more and more dust had been accumulated on the InSight lander’s solar panels. The dust has negative effects on power conservation and it resulted in the InSight lander losing about 30 watt-our energy daily on Mars.

We are building a 1:2 Peseverance Mars Rover Replica, which will perfectly replicate the appearance structure of the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover in very fine details, but with no scientific functions. Building the InSight lander is also under our consideration. It can be a nice decoration closet for the Perseverance Mars Rover Replica.

The team came up with an innovative and counterintuitive way to remove the dust. Instead of installing another motor or utilize Ingenuity Helicopter’s blazes, in which both methods require too much power than we want to, to shake off the dust, a small scoop is used to trickle sands near the solar panel, and then the large sand grains will carry the small dust away when the wind blows. That is to say, when to scoop sand also needs to be carefully planned. After the dust’s removal, it has been decided that the InSight lander will go dormant later this Summer to save energy until August.

It can be speculated that dust could also accumulate on the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover and the Ingenuity Helicopter, but since they move more than the InSight lander, the dust so far is not an yet. For our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica, if you drive it outside, dust is not an expected problem since the battery will be inside the body.

Around October 7th, Mars and Earth will rotate to the opposite sides of the Sun, and this will have significant effects on the communications between the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover and Earth. So during that period, even though the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover will keep on recording data and send the data back to Earth, Earth will not give any commands to the rover. Essentially, most of the operation will pause till the end of October.

For our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica, you won’t need to worry about downtime, since it will be operating on batteries or outlets. If you are interested in our Mars Rover Replica, please check [1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica Design and Building Diary].

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Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover News

Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s Ingenuity Helicopter Spends the Night by itself for the First Time

While the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover is performing all the system checks, the Ingenuity Helicopter is also doing its part of the jobs. Giving the low temperature on Mars (it could go down below 90°C at night), keeping all the electronic systems and its mechanical structure warm is crucial. That is why when the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover first arrived, the Ingenuity Helicopter stayed attached to the belly of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover till it was sufficiently charged from the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover. Even after the Ingenuity Helicopter disengaged from the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover it still carries backup batteries that were charged from the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover.

We are building a 1:2 Peseverance Mars Rover Replica, which will perfectly replicate the appearance structure of the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover in very fine details, but with no actual scientific functions. The Ingenuity Helicopter is also in our plan to replicate. The difference between our Mars Rover Replica and Ingenuity Helicopter replica, on Earth, and the real Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity Helicopter, on Mars, is we won’t need to keep them warm the whole time. The motors won’t run so heavily so you won’t need to worry about keeping them cool either.

After parting with the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover, the rover moved far from the Ingenuity Helicopter so that Ingenuity would receive enough solar power. That is why the first night on its own would be very important, which is one of the milestones set for the Ingenuity Helicopter.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover mainly runs on nuclear power, and the Ingenuity Helicopter runs on solar power, but for our Mars Rover Replica and the Ingenuity Helicopter replica, they will run on rechargeable batteries and an external power supply.

Unlike the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover, the Ingenuity Helicopter does not carry any science instruments and its purpose on this mission is not for scientific study, but to only show the possibility of exploring a planet with an aircraft, even though it is a small one. It is beyond excitement that the Ingenuity Helicopter spent the first night on its own successfully. Now the team will prepare for the first flight.

Just like the Ingenuity Helicopter, our Mars Rover Replica also doesn’t carry any science instruments either, but our Mars Rover Replica will have all the scientific instruments’ appearance structures. If you are interested in our Mars Rover Replica, please check [1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica Design and Building Diary]. 

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Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover News

Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s Ingenuity Helicopter Prepares for Test Flight

Since the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover landed on Mars, the Ingenuity Helicopter has been preparing for flying. On March 21st, 2021, after dropping the debris shield, which covered and protected Ingenuity all the way till landing, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s Ingenuity Helicopter is ready to take its first test drive.

Our 1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica will also have the debris shield and users can remove it remotely. The appearance structure of the Perseverance Mars Rover Replica‘s debris shield will perfectly replate the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s debris shield and have the same appearance structure.

The Martian air density is only 1% of Earth’s, and the gravity is about 30% of Earth’s. Moreover, during the night, the temperature can go extremely low. With limited sun, or solar power, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s Ingenuity Helicopter has to keep warming up itself to ensure the structure and all the electrical components won’t be frozen. Therefore, keeping Ingenuity sufficiently charged and warm alone is not an easy task, letting it fly is even more difficult. This is also the reason that this time, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s Ingenuity Helicopter does not have an actual goal or any science instruments, because its only mission is to be able to fly.

For our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica and the Ingenuity replica, because they will be on Earth, we don’t need to worry about keeping them warm, but we might need to worry about getting a ventilation system for when warm weathers come.

It will take about 6 sols (or more if needed) for the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover‘s Ingenuity Helicopter to deploy. Because the Ingenuity was initially attached at the bottom of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover and placed upside down, it needs to be slowly rotated to the vertical position, which will take around 3 sol, if not more. Eventually, Ingenuity’s 4 legs should be standing steadily on the floor, the 6 batteries should be sufficiently charged and the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover should be about 5 meters (16 feet away) so that Ingenuity can get enough solar power. Our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica and the Ingenuity replica won’t use solar power, and they will be using rechargeable batteries or an external power supply.

During the test flight, Ingenuity will need to run its rotors at 2,537 RPM, fly up for 3 seconds to a height of 3 meters, and stay in the air for 30 seconds. After Ingenuity lands, videos of how it performs will be sent back to Earth so that the team will know if everything is working normally. Our Perseverance Mars Rover Replica‘s Ingenuity will also be able to fly, but how much height it can climb is still to be determined. If you are interested in our Mars Rover Replica, please check [1:2 Perseverance Mars Rover Replica Design and Building Diary].