NASA will upload a "minor modification" of flight control software to the Ingenuity helicopter ahead of its first attempt at powered flight on Mars, and says the process of doing so means it can’t say when attempts to send craft into Red skies will take place.
The ‘copter was
scheduled to attempt flight on April 11th, but NASA delayed lift-off due to a rotor spin test ending early “due to a 'watchdog' timer expiration".
Now the space agency
says that problem can only be overcome by new software.
“The Ingenuity team has identified a software solution for the command sequence issue identified on Sol 49 (April 9) during a planned high-speed spin-up test of the helicopter’s rotors,” says NASA’s new statement.
Other options were considered, but it was decided that “minor modification and reinstallation of Ingenuity’s flight control software is the most robust path forward.”
“This software update will modify the process by which the two flight controllers boot up, allowing the hardware and software to safely transition to the flight state.”