INDIAN MADE DRONE IS RUNNING ON MARS

BOB BALARAM, an IIT-Madras alumnus from the 1975-80 batch, is Ingenuity's chief engineer. He studied B.Tech, Mechanical Engineering at the prestigious institute. After IIT-Madras, Bob Balaram did his MS, Computer and System Engineering from America's oldest technological research university Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and also completed his PhD from the institute. The Apollo Moon landing mission had developed his interest in space and science.

Bob Balaram is now working with Nasa at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a Chief Engineer for Mars Helicopter Scout Project. He has been associated with Nasa for 20 years. Previously, Bob researched precision landing methods for Mars and also worked on advanced simulation techniques for planetary entry, descent, and landing (EDL).

While working with Nasa, Bob Balaram also led the team that developed a high-fidelity EDL simulator. The simulation was used in Curiosity and Perseverance rover missions.

TECHNICAL DETAILS :     

Ingenuity has four specially made carbon-fiber blades, arranged into two rotors that spin in opposite directions at around 2,400 rpm – many times faster than a passenger helicopter on Earth. It also has innovative solar cells, batteries, and other components. Ingenuity doesn't carry science instruments and is a separate experiment from the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. 

                                  

MORE TECH SPECS :

Mass	1.8 kilograms
Weight	1.8 kg on Earth; 0.68 kg on Mars
Width	Total length of rotors:  4 feet (1.2 meters)
Power	Solar panel charges Lithium-ion batteries, providing enough energy for one 90-second flight per Martian day (~350 Watts of average power during flight)
Blade span	Just under 4 feet (1.2 meters)
Flight range	Up to 980 feet (300 meters)
Flight altitude	Up to 15 feet (5 meters)
Flight environment	Thin atmosphere, less than 1% as dense as Earth's

 

THE JOURNEY BEGINS :

This Mars Exploration Program is a science-driven, technology-enabled study of Mars as a planetary system by NASA in order to understand the following.

1. Early evolution and the formation of Mars as a planet.
2. The history of geological and climate processes that have shaped Mars through time.
3. The biological potential for Mars to have hosted life
4. The future exploration of Mars by humans.
5. Mars comparison with earth.

Feb 18 , 2021:

NASA's perseverance rover that carries INGENUITY helicopter reaches MARS surface .

March 21. 2021:

Perseverance rover deployes guitar shaped graphite shield to protect INGENUITY helicopter during landing.The rover currently is in transit with airfield where the helicopter will attempt to fly.

Helicopter deployment process went for 6 martian days or 6 sols (i.e 6 days and 4 hours on earth)

SOL 1: Team on earth activates the bolt-breaking device releasing the locking mechanism that helped to hold INGENUITY helicopter inside the perseverance rover.

SOL 2: Team activates "cable - cutting pyrotechnic device" that enable mechanized arms and two of its 4 landing legs. 

SOL 3: A small rotating motor finishes rotating , bringing helicopter completely vertical.

SOL 4: The final 2 legs will snap into  position. On each of those four sols, the Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and engineering imager will take confirmation shots of Ingenuity as it incrementally unfolds into its flight .  At it's final position , the helicopter will hang suspended at about 5 inches above martian surface. At this point only a single bolt and a few electrical point will connect the perseverance rover.

SOL 5: The team uses final opportunity to charge  6 battery cells of INGENUITY's with the help of PERSEVERANCE .Once the cord are cut with the rover and drop the helicopter to the surface, rover drives back as soon as possible. This will help sunlight reach.

SOL 6: The team here confirms 3 things. 

1. INGENUITY's 4 legs are firm on surface.
2. PERSEVERANCE rover did drive 16 feet away from the helicopter's landing point.
3. Both rover and helicopter are communicating with each other via their onboard radio.

April 19, 2021:  The first flight