Ingenuity Beyond Imagination

Over Coffee® | Stories and Resources from the Intersection of Art and Science | Exploring How to Make STEAM Work For You

The first black-and-white image from NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, April 19, 2021. (Photo courtesy of NASA/JPL, and used with permission.) This podcast and blog are not, in any way, affiliated with, nor endorsed by, NASA nor the Jet Propulsion Lab. For NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, the original plan was, simply, a technology demonstration. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Robotics Technologist Gerik Kubiak and his colleagues created the four-pound helicopter for an experimental test flight, according to JPL's website. Their goals: to demonstrate miniaturized technology in an autonomous aircraft while establishing whether the little helicopter could survive Mars' environment. And the ultimate objective? Initially, according to JPL's fact sheet, scientists hoped to have Ingenuity perform up to five test flights, in thirty Martian days. Fast-forward to today. So far, Ingenuity has flown a total of thirteen test flights. Since arriving on the Martian surface aboard the Mars Perseverance Rover in February, 2021, Ingenuity has steadily "pushed the envelope". Her inaugural flight, on April 19th, lasted just over 39 seconds, as Ingenuity climbed to a prescribed maximum height, then hovered 10 feet above the Martian surface. NASA;s flight log shows Ingenuity's flight times and distances progressively lengthening. May 7, 2021, marked Ingenuity's fifth successful flight. Designed to fly for ninety seconds, Ingenuity has exceeded that figure numerous times during her test flights. At the time of our conversation, her longest logged flight was the twelfth: 169.4 seconds. And the miniature helicopter (which,, NASA says, weighs less than two pounds on Mars!) has been sending back both black-and-white and color images of her groundbreaking journeys. On the day of Ingenuity's twelfth flight, Gerik talked about the process of designing the spacecraft, shared a closer look at the missions and discussed his favorite moments as Ingenuity made spaceflight history. On thie edition of Over Coffee® we cover: How Gerik first became involved in the robotics field, as his professional path; How he began, working with the Ingenuity helicopter; Some of the challenges involved, in preparing Ingenuity to fly on Mars; A closer look at the technology that's enabling Ingenuity to fly; Gerik's recollections of the first day Ingenuity flew; How the helicopter is communicating, from Mars to Earth; Why Ingenuity's twelfth mission was one of the most challenging; A closer look at the initial mission plans, and the ways in which the helicopter has surpassed them; How the helicopter can "troubleshoot" if a problem occurs; Gerik's favorite part of getting to work on the helicopter and operate it; What he especially enjoyed learning, that he didn't know previously,, about robotics, from operating Ingenuity on Mars; A quick look at some possible future plans; Some of the images that Gerik found most breathtaking; Where to find educational resources connected with Ingenuity's flights. (These include a downloadable 3D model on NASA's "Mars Helicopter" page!)