NASA temporarily grounding Mars helicopter Ingenuity

INA - SOURCES 

The groundbreaking helicopter paused while Martian dust makes it difficult to recharge its batteries.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, which manages Ingenuity's mission, announced that Ingenuity, the first aircraft to make a powered flight on an extraterrestrial world will be pausing operations for the next several weeks. "The MarsHelicopter is taking a break for the next few weeks. It's winter and dust season on Mars, which means less sunlight to recharge Ingenuity’s batteries. But don’t worry, the team expects the rotorcraft to fly again in August," JPL stated on Twitter.

Like Earth, Mars has a slightly tilted axis in respect to its orbital plane, meaning different amounts of sunlight reach the planet's northern and southern hemispheres over the course of a year, giving them distinct seasons. Over the next few weeks, Martian winter means more dust will be in the air, blocking out the sunlight Ingenuity needs to recharge.

Ingenuity should be back up in the Martian air by the beginning of August, according to a NASA statement.

"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," the statement included.