NASA wants to solve startup problems with Mars drone Ingenuity with software update

NASA is going to send a software update to the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars. The vehicle was supposed to make its maiden flight this weekend, but it failed due to an error. NASA now says a software update should fix that.

The update will be sent to the robot that was taken with the Perseverance rover that is currently on the Martian surface. Ingenuity should have made a flight for the first time last Sunday, but that was postponed. The helicopter refused to go to final flight position during a rotor test. As a result, the flight was postponed. NASA now writes that an update will be released in the coming days.

The team behind the helicopter has investigated various solutions, but came to the conclusion that the only option is to modify and completely reinstall the flight control software. In that update, adjustments are made in the order in which the flight processes start.

It will therefore take even longer than planned before the helicopter can fly. The initial idea was to do that next Wednesday, but now ‘the timeline is fluid’. NASA wants to roll out the software in steps. First the software has to be written, but especially testing and validating the update will take a lot of time. NASA says the helicopter is otherwise in good condition. Sometime in the coming week, a new date will be announced for the historic flight to take place.