NASA’s Mars helicopter delays 1st flight

Washington, Apr 12: NASA has chosen to reschedule its Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s first experimental flight on the Red Planet to no earlier than April 14, the agency announced.
The flight, the first powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet, was originally scheduled for late Sunday.
During a high-speed spin test of the rotors on Friday, the command sequence controlling the test ended early due to a “watchdog” timer expiration. This occurred as it was trying to transition the flight computer from “Pre-Flight” to “Flight” mode, according to NASA.
The helicopter is safe and healthy and communicated its full telemetry set to Earth, said NASA.
The helicopter team is reviewing telemetry to diagnose and understand the issue. (UNI)