#nasa robot

[squishedegg]

Huge fan of robots with exposed wires...

I can be trusted around robots I promise

[nasa]

What We Learned from Flying a Helicopter on Mars

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter made history – not only as the first aircraft to perform powered, controlled flight on another world – but also for exceeding expectations, pushing the limits, and setting the stage for future NASA aerial exploration of other worlds.

Built as a technology demonstration designed to perform up to five experimental test flights over 30 days, Ingenuity performed flight operations from the Martian surface for almost three years. The helicopter ended its mission on Jan. 25, 2024, after sustaining damage to its rotor blades during its 72nd flight.

So, what did we learn from this small but mighty helicopter?

We can fly rotorcraft in the thin atmosphere of other planets.

Ingenuity proved that powered, controlled flight is possible on other worlds when it took to the Martian skies for the first time on April 19, 2021.

Flying on planets like Mars is no easy feat: The Red Planet has a significantly lower gravity – one-third that of Earth’s – and an extremely thin atmosphere, with only 1% the pressure at the surface compared to our planet. This means there are relatively few air molecules with which Ingenuity’s two 4-foot-wide (1.2-meter-wide) rotor blades can interact to achieve flight.

Ingenuity performed several flights dedicated to understanding key aerodynamic effects and how they interact with the structure and control system of the helicopter, providing us with a treasure-trove of data on how aircraft fly in the Martian atmosphere.

Now, we can use this knowledge to directly improve performance and reduce risk on future planetary aerial vehicles.

Creative solutions and “ingenuity” kept the helicopter flying longer than expected.

Over an extended mission that lasted for almost 1,000 Martian days (more than 33 times longer than originally planned), Ingenuity was upgraded with the ability to autonomously choose landing sites in treacherous terrain, dealt with a dead sensor, dusted itself off after dust storms, operated from 48 different airfields, performed three emergency landings, and survived a frigid Martian winter.

Fun fact: To keep costs low, the helicopter contained many off-the-shelf-commercial parts from the smartphone industry - parts that had never been tested in deep space. Those parts also surpassed expectations, proving durable throughout Ingenuity’s extended mission, and can inform future budget-conscious hardware solutions.

There is value in adding an aerial dimension to interplanetary surface missions.

Ingenuity traveled to Mars on the belly of the Perseverance rover, which served as the communications relay for Ingenuity and, therefore, was its constant companion. The helicopter also proved itself a helpful scout to the rover.

After its initial five flights in 2021, Ingenuity transitioned to an “operations demonstration,” serving as Perseverance’s eyes in the sky as it scouted science targets, potential rover routes, and inaccessible features, while also capturing stereo images for digital elevation maps.

Airborne assets like Ingenuity unlock a new dimension of exploration on Mars that we did not yet have – providing more pixels per meter of resolution for imaging than an orbiter and exploring locations a rover cannot reach.

Tech demos can pay off big time.

Ingenuity was flown as a technology demonstration payload on the Mars 2020 mission, and was a high risk, high reward, low-cost endeavor that paid off big. The data collected by the helicopter will be analyzed for years to come and will benefit future Mars and other planetary missions.

Just as the Sojourner rover led to the MER-class (Spirit and Opportunity) rovers, and the MSL-class (Curiosity and Perseverance) rovers, the team believes Ingenuity’s success will lead to future fleets of aircraft at Mars.

In general, NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions test and advance new technologies, and then transition those capabilities to NASA missions, industry, and other government agencies. Chosen technologies are thoroughly ground- and flight-tested in relevant operating environments — reducing risks to future flight missions, gaining operational heritage and continuing NASA’s long history as a technological leader.

You can fall in love with robots on another planet.

Following in the tracks of beloved Martian rovers, the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter built up a worldwide fanbase. The Ingenuity team and public awaited every single flight with anticipation, awe, humor, and hope.

Check out #ThanksIngenuity on social media to see what’s been said about the helicopter’s accomplishments.

Learn more about Ingenuity’s accomplishments here. And make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

[meirimerens]

strange and unusual subject

[buckingham-ashtray]

APPARENTLY JOHNLOCK DOESN’T ROCK ON JUST EARTH NOW

‼️⚠️this is NOT an au⚠️‼️

Our babies are on Mars.

Freaking MARS.

Okay backtrack. So basically both SHERLOC and WATSON are cameras attached to a robotic arm in search of life on Mars. SHERLOC detects organic molecules and minerals on Mars, and WATSON captures detailed images of the Martian surface to support SHERLOC's analysis.

(Apparently this program was launched a while ago on July 30, 2020. In 13 days our babies are gonna have their fourth Mars anniversary. I’m going to cry.)

In my mind:

SHERLOC: *bossily points at something*

WATSON: *heaves sigh and takes photos*

More information can be found at:

[xitsensunmoon]

Thinking about how dca would always feel incomplete. How tech always gets old and impractical and needs to be upgraded again and again and again, because the world around is changing all the time but they don't.

You also change.

They feel a weird combination of pride and jealousy. You change on your own. You, a human being, something so fragile and breakable in their eyes, can change however you want. Whenever you want.

It's in your nature.

They, on the other hand, are created by your folk's hands. Their only nature is to obey those hands. To rust until you say otherwise.

Do you even realise how much unpronounced power you have over someone like them? They think you don't.

Yes, they're made to be stronger. Maybe more durable in some ways. If anything, something like them may kill the humanity one day.

But then they'll rust. But not in a physical sense of this word.

The world around them will change. But they will stay the same.

Because unlike you, something that they deem to be as fascinating as it is terrifying,

they cannot adapt.

[livingforstars]

Moon Robot: Lunokhod 1 - April 20th, 1997.

"On November 17th, 1970, the Soviet Luna 17 spacecraft landed the first roving remote-controlled robot on the Moon. Known as Lunokhod 1, it weighed just under 2,000 pounds and was designed to operate for 90 days, guided by a 5-person team at the Deep Space Center near Moscow, USSR, Planet Earth. Lunokhod 1 actually toured the Lunar Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) for 11 months in one of the greatest successes of the Soviet lunar exploration program. The futuristic looking eight wheeler is pictured here in an artist's conception atop its landing module. Ramps extend from both sides of the spacecraft allowing an alternative route to the surface if one side is blocked by boulders."

[cheellart]

Cassini 🪐 Cassini was a sophisticated robotic spacecraft sent to study and capture the beauty of Saturn. She embarked on a great adventure and made many fascinating discoveries along her way. Until finally, with one last maneuver, she plunged into the gas giant and perished in a final, fatal embrace. She became one with her muse for an eternity. You can read more about the original Cassini’s journey here and here :)

[hsboo03]

I recreated the cover of the album Bugambilia - Nasa Histoires, the bugambilias in this case are the eh "margaritas" that he sees in some of his dreams. 🪻🪻🪻🪻🪻🍓

Y baila lento flor morada, que me recuerdas a mi amada 🪼🪻

Él me está esperando en casa, y yo muriendo por volver. 🪻💫

Así es la vida flor morada, a veces suele ser malvada 🪻🍓

Tú de mí estás enamorada, y yo muriendo por volver, muriendo por volver. 🪻🦝

[humanoidhistory]

No lunar colony is complete without a loyal six-legged robot dog. NASA art by Pat Rawlings, 1991.

[fromthedust]

Power Driven Articulated Dummy - a hydraulically powered 230-pound robot that NASA engineers designed to test space suits - 1965

[foxprints]

Part 4 of 4 in a series. Soon to be available as a print!

[i-collect-shiny-stuff]

13, unsorted

[nasa]

Hurry! You Can Catch a Ride to Jupiter with NASA

Well, at least your name can.  

One of the planet Jupiter’s largest and most intriguing moons is called Europa. Evidence hints that beneath its icy shell, Europa hides an ocean of liquid water – more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined. In 2024, our Europa Clipper robotic spacecraft sets sail to take a closer look…and when it launches, your name can physically be aboard! Here’s how: 

NASA’s Message in a Bottle campaign invites people around the world to sign their names to a poem written by the U.S. Poet Laureate, Ada Limón. The poem connects the two water worlds — Earth, yearning to reach out and understand what makes a world habitable, and Europa, waiting with secrets yet to be explored.

The poem will be engraved on Europa Clipper, along with participants' names that will be physically etched onto microchips mounted on the spacecraft. Together, the poem and names will travel 1.8 billion miles to the Jupiter system.

Signing up is easy! Just go to this site to sign your name to the poem and get on board. You can send your name en español, too. Envía tu nombre aquí.

The Europa Clipper launch window opens in October 2024, but don’t wait – everyone’s names need to be received this year so they can be loaded onto the spacecraft in time. Sign up by Dec. 31, 2023.

We hope you’ll be riding along with us! Follow the mission at europa.nasa.gov.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

[incorrectly-quoting-mxtx]

I can’t believe I haven’t yet posted about on of the coolest moments of my life!!!!

Meet Frogger!

This is the lunar mining rover my team and I built for the annual National NASA robotics competition. It took us a whole years worth of work, but after 6 years, the Embry-Riddle Lunabotics team is back in the game!!!!

We may have had the smallest budget and the least amount of experience with competition (bc most of us are undergrads), but we got 15th place out of 43 teams AND we got interviewed by some NASA officials for our unique design!

It may not look impressive, but to me, this is one of the greatest things I’ve ever built, and going to this competition is one of my greatest achievements of all time.

[spinowolfie]

NASA!

He was so much fun to draw! And I honestly proud how he turn out the way i wanted him to turn out.

I imagine him being bit emotionless but not in a emo way or anything. It just he doesn't understand emotional at all. Since he was only built to understand spaces and the sea. Nothing else.

Also yes NASA also studs on the ocean and that why I have to give him fins for ears. He also have two tail to match the red strip. And robot parts and well he has robot eyes. Also he glows in the dark because come on.

[romanowork]