It's now dust season and winter on Mars, meaning there's more dust in the air and less sunlight to help recharge Ingenuity's batteries. Dust levels are expected to subside later in July, so the team has decided to give the helicopter's batteries a break for a few weeks and build their daily state of charge back up. Weather permitting, Ingenuity is expected to be back in the air around the start of August.

Related Links
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Keeping Our Sense of Direction: Dealing With a Dead Sensor
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 08, 2022
As the season has turned to winter in Jezero Crater, conditions have become increasingly challenging for Ingenuity, which was designed for a short flight-test campaign during the much warmer Martian spring. Increased amounts of dust in the atmosphere, combined with lower daytime temperatures and shorter days, have impacted Ingenuity's energy budget to the point where it is unable to keep itself warm throughout the Martian nights. In its new winter operations paradigm, Ingenuity is effectively shut ... read more