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The Martian drone NASA Ingenuity continues to fly to the Red Planet and after the 32nd flight he managed to complete the 33rd flight after seven (terrestrial) days, completing it during sol 567. For the little one helicopter born as a demonstration project never attempted before, it continues the series of successes even if not everything went as expected by the engineers on Earth.

The images of the Navcam of the 33rd flight where you can see, in the upper right, the debris
For the first time the drone in fact, he had to rise into the air with a debris of the Mars 2020 mission entangled to one of the lower supports. This is obviously a possible eventuality but not so probable and yet it happened demonstrating how the monitoring of the debris of previous missions (in progress or completed) is important to safeguard the devices that are still functioning. As written, even with this foreign body the flight was still completed.
NASA Ingenuity and the 33rd flight with entangled debris
In the past few hours, the latest images of the Martian drone showing in the photographs taken by the Navcam (low resolution black and white camera used for autonomous navigation) a small piece of fabric entangled in one of the lower supports that act as a “legs”.
NASA Ingenuity he still flew for 111 meters with a maximum altitude of 10 meters and a maximum speed of 4.75 m / s (17.1 km / h) for a total of 55.2 “thus moving from the W to the X airfield. During the 32nd flight, therefore without the impediments of the debristhe performances had been substantially similar with a distance of 94 meters, a maximum altitude of 10 meters, a maximum speed of 4.75 m / s and an overall duration of 55.3 “.

As written on the official blogcommenting on the latest photographs, the debris was not visible during the images of the 32nd flight while it appeared in those of the 33rd flight and this could mean that it was moved by the Martian wind in the days between the two flights (about seven). Fortunately, the small piece of synthetic fabric fell around the middle of the flight and therefore was not a problem, but potentially an additional risk. As specified by the JPL “All flight telemetry and post-flight operations are nominal and show no indication of damage to the vehicle”.

It is currently unclear where that particular debris came from (even if it is of human origin). Some speculations initial, but unofficial, would suggest a synthetic fabric that was part of the components used in the Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL). The EDL is the phase of entry into the lower part of the Martian atmosphere before the use of the skycrane and includes the release of the front and rear covers and the use of a parachute. Some parts of the EDL were photographed during the 26th flight (in April) and this debris may have come from those areas.
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