NASA Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Prepares for First Flight （原文鏈接）
NASA“機智號”直升機準備在火星首飛 （英文翻譯）
原文：
Now uncocooned from its protective carbon-fiber shield, the helicopter is being readied for its next steps.
翻譯：
在脫離碳纖維防護罩的保護后，“機智號”（Ingenuity）直升機正為下一步做準備。
原文：
NASA is targeting no earlier than April 8 for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter to make the first attempt at powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet. Before the 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) rotorcraft can attempt its first flight, however, both it and its team must meet a series of daunting milestones.
Ingenuity remains attached to the belly of NASA’s Perseverance rover, which touched down on Mars Feb. 18. On March 21, the rover deployed the guitar case-shaped graphite composite debris shield that protected Ingenuity during landing. The rover currently is in transit to the “airfield” where Ingenuity will attempt to fly. Once deployed, Ingenuity will have 30 Martian days, or sols, (31 Earth days) to conduct its test flight campaign.
“When NASA’s Sojourner rover landed on Mars in 1997, it proved that roving the Red Planet was possible and completely redefined our approach to how we explore Mars. Similarly, we want to learn about the potential Ingenuity has for the future of science research,” said Lori Glaze, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters. “Aptly named, Ingenuity is a technology demonstration that aims to be the first powered flight on another world and, if successful, could further expand our horizons and broaden the scope of what is possible with Mars exploration.”
Flying in a controlled manner on Mars is far more difficult than flying on Earth. The Red Planet has significant gravity (about one-third that of Earth’s), but its atmosphere is just 1% as dense as Earth’s at the surface. During Martian daytime, the planet’s surface receives only about half the amount of solar energy that reaches Earth during its daytime, and nighttime temperatures can drop as low as minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 90 degrees Celsius), which can freeze and crack unprotected electrical components.
To fit within the available accommodations provided by the Perseverance rover, the Ingenuity helicopter must be small. To fly in the Mars environment, it must be lightweight. To survive the frigid Martian nights, it must have enough energy to power internal heaters. The system – from the performance of its rotors in rarified air to its solar panels, electrical heaters, and other components – has been tested and retested in the vacuum chambers and test labs of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
“Every step we have taken since this journey began six years ago has been uncharted territory in the history of aircraft,” said Bob Balaram, Mars Helicopter chief engineer at JPL. “And while getting deployed to the surface will be a big challenge, surviving that first night on Mars alone, without the rover protecting it and keeping it powered, will be an even bigger one.”
翻譯：
NASA的計劃是嘗試“機智號”（Ingenuity）火星直升機在另一個行星上的首飛，而時間不會早于4月8日。然而在這艘重達4磅（1.8公斤）的旋翼機進行首飛前，它和它的團隊必須經(jīng)歷一系列艱巨的里程碑。
2月18日，NASA的“毅力號”探測器（Perseverance rover）在火星著陸，此時“機智號”（Ingenuity）仍搭載在“毅力號”探測器的腹部。3月21日，“毅力號”探測器為“機智號”安裝了吉他盒形的石墨復合碎片防護罩（上圖），以確保它能安全著陸。目前，“毅力號”探測器正在前往“起飛點”的途中，“機智號”將在那里嘗試首飛。一旦部署完畢，“機智號”將有30個火星日（31個地球日）的時間來進行它的測試飛行。
“在1997年，當NASA的探測器登陸火星時，已經(jīng)證明了在火星上探測的可能性，并且完全重定義了我們探索火星的方式。相同地，我們也想了解到“獨創(chuàng)性”（Ingenuity）對未來科學研究的潛在作用?！盢ASA 總部行星科學部主任 Lori Glaze 說，“機智號（Ingenuity）因此得名，它的目標是成為首個在其他行星運行的飛行器，如果成功的話，它將進一步擴展我們的視野，以及拓寬探索火星的范圍。”
在火星上控制飛行器遠比在地球上困難得多。這顆紅色行星雖然擁有明顯的重力（約是地球的三分之一），但是它的大氣密度只有地球的1% 。在火星的日間，火星地表能接收到的太陽能只有地球的一半左右，而它的夜間溫度會驟降至零下130華氏度（約零下90攝氏度），未受保護的電子元件將會被低溫徹底凍壞。
為了能夠滿足“毅力號”探測器的裝載條件，“機智號”直升機必須是小型的。為了能在火星環(huán)境中飛行，它又必須是輕型的。為了能在寒冷的火星夜間中生存，它還必須有足夠的能量來驅動內(nèi)部設備。這套系統(tǒng)——小到從它轉子在稀薄空氣中的性能，大到它太陽能電池板、電加熱器和其他組件——都已經(jīng)在真空缸以及NASA位于南加州的噴氣推進實驗室 （Jet Propulsion Laboratory，JPL）中進行過了反反復復的測試。
“自六年前開啟這一旅程以來，我們邁出的每一步都是飛機歷史上未知的領域。”噴氣推進實驗室的火星直升機總工程師 Bob Balaram 說，“盡管將飛行器部署到火星地表是一個巨大的挑戰(zhàn)，但如果沒有“毅力號”探測器的保護和供能，“機智號”單獨在火星上度過的第一個夜晚會比前者更加艱難?！?/p>
原文：
Deploying the Helicopter
翻譯：
部署直升機
原文：
Before Ingenuity takes its first flight on Mars, it must be squarely in the middle of its airfield – a 33-by-33-foot (10-by-10-meter) patch of Martian real estate chosen for its flatness and lack of obstructions. Once the helicopter and rover teams confirm that Perseverance is situated exactly where they want it to be inside the airfield, the elaborate process to deploy the helicopter on the surface of Mars begins.
“As with everything with the helicopter, this type of deployment has never been done before,” said Farah Alibay, Mars Helicopter integration lead for the Perseverance rover. “Once we start the deployment there is no turning back. All activities are closely coordinated, irreversible, and dependent on each other. If there is even a hint that something isn’t going as expected, we may decide to hold off for a sol or more until we have a better idea what is going on.”
The helicopter deployment process will take about six sols (six days, four hours on Earth). On the first sol, the team on Earth will activate a bolt-breaking device, releasing a locking mechanism that helped hold the helicopter firmly against the rover’s belly during launch and Mars landing. The following sol, they will fire a cable-cutting pyrotechnic device, enabling the mechanized arm that holds Ingenuity to begin rotating the helicopter out of its horizontal position. This is also when the rotorcraft will extend two of its four landing legs.
During the third sol of the deployment sequence, a small electric motor will finish rotating Ingenuity until it latches, bringing the helicopter completely vertical. During the fourth sol, the final two landing legs will snap into position. On each of those four sols, the Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering (WATSON) imager will take confirmation shots of Ingenuity as it incrementally unfolds into its flight configuration. In its final position, the helicopter will hang suspended at about 5 inches (13 centimeters) over the Martian surface. At that point, only a single bolt and a couple dozen tiny electrical contacts will connect the helicopter to Perseverance. On the fifth sol of deployment, the team will use the final opportunity to utilize Perseverance as a power source and charge Ingenuity’s six battery cells.
“Once we cut the cord with Perseverance and drop those final 5 inches to the surface, we want to have our big friend drive away as quickly as possible so we can get the Sun’s rays on our solar panel and begin recharging our batteries,” said Balaram.
On the sixth and final scheduled sol of this deployment phase, the team will need to confirm three things: that Ingenuity’s four legs are firmly on the surface of Jezero Crater, that the rover did, indeed, drive about 16 feet (about 5 meters) away, and that both helicopter and rover are communicating via their onboard radios. This milestone also initiates the 30-sol clock during which time all preflight checks and flight tests must take place.
“Ingenuity is an experimental engineering flight test – we want to see if we can fly at Mars,” said MiMi Aung, project manager for Ingenuity Mars Helicopter at JPL. “There are no science instruments onboard and no goals to obtain scientific information. We are confident that all the engineering data we want to obtain both on the surface of Mars and aloft can be done within this 30-sol window.”
As with deployment, the helicopter and rover teams will approach the upcoming flight test methodically. If the team misses or has questions about an important preflight milestone, they may take one or more sols to better understand the issue. If the helicopter survives the first night of the sequence period on the surface of Mars, however, the team will spend the next several sols doing everything possible to ensure a successful flight, including wiggling the rotor blades and verifying the performance of the inertial measurement unit, as well as testing the entire rotor system during a spin-up to 2,537 rpm (while Ingenuity’s landing gear remain firmly on the surface).
翻譯：
在“機智號”直升機的火星首飛開啟之前，它必須正好位于起飛點的中央——一塊33 * 33英尺（10 * 10米）大小，地形平坦且沒有障礙物的平地。一旦直升機和探測器小組確認了“毅力號”已準確抵達他們所期望的正確位置，這個精心設計在火星表面上部署“機智號”直升機的過程就開始了。
“就像直升機相關的一切，這種部署方式前所未有。”火星直升機集成負責人 Farah Alibay 說?！耙坏╅_始后便無法回頭，所有行動都緊密相連，不可逆轉，并相互依賴著。如果有跡象表明事情沒有按照預期進行，我們可能會決定推遲一個火星日（長24小時37分22秒）甚至更長時間，直到有了更好的方法來推進?！?/p>
直升機部署過程需要花費六個火星日（地球上六天四個小時）。在第一個火星日，地球上的團隊將激活螺栓斷裂裝置（bolt-breaking device），將這個把直升機和探測器在發(fā)射和著陸過程中緊密連接的鎖固機制釋放開來。在接下來的火星日，團隊將啟動一個用于切斷線纜的引爆裝置（cable-cutting pyrotechnic device），使得托住“機智號”的機械臂開始旋轉，并將直升機推離其所在的水平位置，同時這也是旋翼機將它的四條著陸架中的兩條延展出去的時候。
部署次序為第三個火星日時，將通過一個小型電機來旋轉 “機智號”到鎖定的位置，使其保持為完全垂直。到了第四個火星日，剩下的四條著陸架將迅速就位。前四個火星日的每一天中，可操作工程用廣角地形傳感器( Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering，WATSON)成像儀在逐漸展開進入飛行配置的過程中，將持續(xù)地拍攝“機智號”的跟蹤照片。在最終位置，直升機將懸停在火星表面約5英寸（13厘米）的高度。到那時只需要一個螺栓和幾十個電接點就能保持直升機和“毅力號”間的聯(lián)系。在部署的第五個火星日，團隊將用最后的機會把“毅力號”作為一個動力源，為“機智號”的六個電池組充電。
Balaram 說: “一旦我們切斷“機智號”與“毅力號”的相連，從5英寸的高度下降到地面上，我們希望我們的大朋友（“毅力號”探測器）盡快開到更遠些的地方去，這樣我們才能讓太陽光照射到它的太陽能電池板上，繼續(xù)為電池充電?！?/p>
在部署階段的第六個也是最后一個火星日，團隊需要確認的有三件事：“機智號”的四條著陸架已牢牢地固定在 Jezero 隕石坑的表面上，探測器確確實實行駛了16英尺遠（約5米），以及直升機和探測器都能通過機載無線電進行通信。這一里程碑也標志著所有飛行前必須進行的檢查和測試已經(jīng)完成，即將啟動30個火星日的飛行測試。
“機智號是一項實驗性的工程飛行測試——我們想看看我們能否能在火星上飛行?！眹姎馔七M實驗室“機智號”火星直升機項目經(jīng)理MiMi Aung 說。“機上沒有科學儀器，也沒有獲取科學信息的目標。我們相信，對我們所有想要的火星表面以及高空的工程數(shù)據(jù)都能在30個火星日的窗口期內(nèi)完成獲取?！?/p>
與部署一樣，直升機和探測器團隊也要有條不紊地做好即將到來的飛行測試。如果團隊對飛行前的重要里程碑有疑問或者沒弄清楚，他們可能需要一個或多個火星日來更好地理解這個問題。如果直升機能在火星表面部署后的第一個晚上存活下來，無論如何，研究小組都要在接下來的幾個火星日，盡一切可能確保飛行成功。這包括擺動螺旋槳以及驗證慣性模組（inertial measurement unit，IMU）的性能，還要測試整個旋翼系統(tǒng)自轉至2537轉/分鐘的情況（此時“機智號”仍然牢牢地固定在火星表面）。
原文：
The First Flight Test on Mars
翻譯：
火星首次飛行試驗
原文：
Once the team is ready to attempt the first flight, Perseverance will receive and relay to Ingenuity the final flight instructions from JPL mission controllers. Several factors will determine the precise time for the flight, including modeling of local wind patterns plus measurements taken by the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) aboard Perseverance. Ingenuity will run its rotors to 2,537 rpm and, if all final self-checks look good, lift off. After climbing at a rate of about 3 feet per second (1 meter per second), the helicopter will hover at 10 feet (3 meters) above the surface for up to 30 seconds. Then, the Mars Helicopter will descend and touch back down on the Martian surface.
Several hours after the first flight has occurred, Perseverance will downlink Ingenuity’s first set of engineering data and, possibly, images and video from the rover’s Navigation Cameras and Mastcam-Z. From the data downlinked that first evening after the flight, the Mars Helicopter team expects to be able to determine if their first attempt to fly at Mars was a success.
On the following sol, all the remaining engineering data collected during the flight, as well as some low-resolution black-and-white imagery from the helicopter’s own Navigation Camera, could be downlinked to JPL. The third sol of this phase, the two images taken by the helicopter’s high-resolution color camera should arrive. The Mars Helicopter team will use all information available to determine when and how to move forward with their next test.
“Mars is hard,” said Aung. “Our plan is to work whatever the Red Planet throws at us the very same way we handled every challenge we’ve faced over the past six years – together, with tenacity and a lot of hard work, and a little Ingenuity.”
翻譯：
一旦團隊準備開始嘗試首飛，”毅力號“將接收到噴氣推進實驗室任務控制人員的最終飛行指令并傳遞給“機智號”。主要有幾個因素來決定飛行的準確時間，包括通過”毅力號“上火星環(huán)境動力學分析儀（MEDA）測量的數(shù)據(jù)并結合局部風場模式模型得到的結果?！皺C智號”將運轉到2537轉/分鐘，如果最后自檢的情況還算不錯，那就發(fā)射升空。在以每秒3英尺的速度爬升后，直升機將在離地面10英尺（3米）的高空盤旋30秒。然后，火星直升機將降落并重回到火星表面。
在首飛后的幾個小時，”毅力號“將下鏈（從太空或飛行器接收信號的通訊方式）到“機智號”的第一組工程數(shù)據(jù)，可能還有來自探測器的導航攝像頭以及桅桿相機的圖像和視頻。根據(jù)飛行后第一個晚上傳回的數(shù)據(jù)，火星直升機小組希望能夠確定他們第一次在火星上飛行的嘗試是否成功。
在接下來的火星日中，所有余下在飛行過程中收集到的工程數(shù)據(jù)，以及一些來自直升機自身導航相機的低分辨率黑白圖像，都會逐步下鏈到噴氣推進實驗室。第三個火星日階段，應該能收到直升機的高分辨率彩色照相機拍攝的兩幅圖像。火星直升機小組將利用所有可用的信息來決定何時以及如何進行下一次測試。
“火星任務很艱難?！?Aung 說。“我們的計劃是，無論這顆紅色星球給我們帶來什么樣的難題，我們都將以相同的方式來應對所面臨的每一個挑戰(zhàn)——正如過去六年來的同心協(xié)力、堅韌不拔、勤奮努力，再加上一點點的獨創(chuàng)性（Ingenuity）。”
原文：
A Piece of History
翻譯：
一段歷史
原文：
While Ingenuity will attempt the first powered, controlled flight on another planet, the first powered, controlled flight on Earth took place Dec. 17, 1903, on the windswept dunes of Kill Devil Hill, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville and Wilbur Wright covered 120 feet in 12 seconds during the first flight. The Wright brothers made four flights that day, each longer than the previous.
A small amount of the material that covered one of the wings of the Wright brothers’ aircraft, known as the Flyer, during the first flight is now aboard Ingenuity. An insulative tape was used to wrap the small swatch of fabric around a cable located underneath the helicopter’s solar panel. The Wrights used the same type of material – an unbleached muslin called “Pride of the West” – to cover their glider and aircraft wings beginning in 1901. The Apollo 11 crew flew a different piece of the material, along with a small splinter of wood from the Wright Flyer, to the Moon and back during their iconic mission in July 1969.
翻譯：
當“機智號”試圖在另一個星球上進行首次動力控制飛行時，讓我們回到地球上第一次動力控制飛行的時間。那是發(fā)生在1903年12月17日，北卡羅來納州基蒂霍克附近的殺魔丘（Kill Devil Hill）的風沙壟上。在這次首飛中，萊特兄弟在12秒內(nèi)飛行了120英尺。萊特兄弟在當天總共進行了四次飛行，每次飛行時間都比之前長。
萊特兄弟的飛機名為“飛行者”（Flyer），在它首飛過程中覆蓋在其中一個機翼的少量材料現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)放在了“機智號”上。它位于直升機的太陽能電池板下面，通過絕緣膠帶在電纜上包裹住了一捆布樣 。那是一種名為“西部驕傲”的細棉布——萊特兄弟從1901年開始就使用這種材料來覆蓋他們的滑翔機和飛機機翼。1969年7月，阿波羅11號的宇航員在他們眾所周知的任務中，帶著萊特兄弟“飛行者”上的一小塊木頭，飛向月球，然后返回地球。
