The American space agency NASA says it has found the likely cause of a crash that grounded its Mars helicopter Ingenuity.
美国宇航局表示，它已经找到了导致其火星直升机“独创号”坠毁的可能原因。
The finding comes after NASA said it had carried out the “first aircraft accident investigation on another world.”
这一发现是在美国宇航局表示已经进行了“首次对另一个世界的飞机事故调查”之后得出的。
Ingenuity arrived on Mars along with NASA’s Perseverance explorer, or rover, in February 2021. The experimental helicopter took its last flight, number 72, in January. That flight ended in a hard landing on the Martian surface.
2021 年 2 月，“聪明号”与 NASA 的“毅力”号探测器或漫游车一起抵达火星。这架实验直升机于 1 月进行了最后一次飞行，即第 72 次飞行。那次飞行最终在火星表面硬着陆。
In April 2021, Ingenuity became the first aircraft to complete a powered, controlled flight on another planet. The aircraft was built to test take-off, short flight and landing operations. The flights on Mars aimed to support NASA’s efforts to build new aircraft that can fly in the atmospheres of other planets.
2021 年 4 月，独创号成为第一架在另一个星球上完成动力、受控飞行的飞机。该飞机是为了测试起飞、短途飞行和着陆操作而制造的。火星上的飞行旨在支持美国宇航局建造可以在其他行星大气层中飞行的新型飞机的努力。
Engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California fully investigated Ingenuity’s last flight on Mars. They found the cause of the crash was linked to the helicopter’s navigation system. That camera-based system was not able to collect dependable data on elements of the Martian surface to support a safe landing.
美国宇航局加利福尼亚州喷气推进实验室的工程师们对“独创号”最后一次火星飞行进行了全面调查。他们发现坠机原因与直升机的导航系统有关。该基于摄像头的系统无法收集有关火星表面元素的可靠数据来支持安全着陆。
A detailed, final report on the accident is to be issued in the coming weeks. But the engineers have already described their main findings in a statement published online.
有关事故的详细最终报告将在未来几周内发布。但工程师们已经在网上发布的一份声明中描述了他们的主要发现。
They said the helicopter’s last flight saw the aircraft climb to about 12 meters, where it stayed, or hovered, while capturing images of the Martian surface. Data records show Ingenuity began its planned descent after about 19 seconds. By 32 seconds, the helicopter was back on the surface and was no longer sending communication signals.
他们说，在直升机的最后一次飞行中，飞机爬升至约 12 米，并停留在该高度或悬停，同时捕捉火星表面的图像。数据记录显示，Ingenuity 在大约 19 秒后开始按计划下降。 32 秒后，直升机返回地面，不再发送通讯信号。
The next day, Ingenuity team members reestablished communications and received images from its last flight. The images showed the aircraft suffered severe damage to its rotor blades .
第二天，“聪明号”团队成员重新建立了通信并收到了最后一次飞行的图像。图像显示，飞机的旋翼叶片严重受损。
NASA explained that Ingenuity’s navigation system plays an important part in collecting data about the surface to ensure the aircraft can complete a smooth landing. The helicopter uses a camera that points downward, capturing information about what is below the craft.
NASA解释说，Ingenuity的导航系统在收集地表数据以确保飞机能够完成平稳着陆方面发挥着重要作用。直升机使用向下的摄像头来捕捉飞行器下方的信息。
In past flights, the engineers said the camera was able to find smooth, suitable landing possibilities. But NASA said during the final flight, the helicopter was traveling in an area with very few surface features for the camera to capture. This meant the aircraft’s navigation system could not find enough of these features to choose a good landing spot.
工程师们表示，在过去的飞行中，相机能够找到平稳、合适的着陆可能性。但美国宇航局表示，在最后一次飞行中，直升机所行驶的区域几乎没有可供相机捕捉的地表特征。这意味着飞机的导航系统无法找到足够的这些特征来选择一个好的着陆点。
At the time, Ingenuity was operating together with NASA’s Perseverance rover in an area of Mars known as Jezero Crater.
当时，独创号与美国宇航局的毅力号火星车一起在火星上一个名为杰泽罗陨石坑的区域运行。
The images recovered from Ingenuity suggested the navigation system’s inability to pick up surface features made the helicopter descend too fast. The hard landing on a sand hill is believed to have caused the helicopter to turn over and roll.
从“独创”号恢复的图像表明，导航系统无法捕捉表面特征，导致直升机下降速度过快。据信，直升机在沙丘上硬着陆导致翻滚。
The engineers said images showed that all four of Ingenuity’s rotor blades broke at their weakest point. The damaged blades also caused the aircraft to shake. Events related to the crash led to increased power demand, which resulted in the loss of communications.
工程师们表示，图像显示，Ingenuity 的所有四个转子叶片都在最薄弱的地方断裂。受损的叶片还导致飞机摇晃。与坠机相关的事件导致电力需求增加，从而导致通信中断。
Although the crash ended Ingenuity’s flight operations, NASA said it is still able to provide and send back weather information and other kinds of data. The space agency says this information could be helpful in designing future aircraft or other explorers to be sent to Mars.
尽管事故结束了“聪明号”的飞行作业，但美国宇航局表示，它仍然能够提供和发回天气信息和其他类型的数据。该航天局表示，这些信息可能有助于设计未来的飞机或其他送往火星的探测器。
Teddy Tzanetos is Ingenuity’s project manager. He said in a statement one major thing the team learned was that future aircraft designed for space travel do not necessarily need to be large flying machines. Tzanetos added that Ingenuity’s longevity suggests that “not everything needs to be bigger, heavier, and radiation-hardened” to work in the Martian environment.
Teddy Tzanetos 是 Ingenuity 的项目经理。他在一份声明中表示，团队了解到的一件重要事情是，未来为太空旅行设计的飞机不一定需要是大型飞行器。查内托斯补充说，“独创号”的长寿表明，“并非所有东西都需要更大、更重和抗辐射”才能在火星环境中工作。
With this in mind, NASA engineers have been testing smaller, lighter flying vehicles, with limited electronics, in order to produce future helicopters that can make a large number of smaller exploration trips.
考虑到这一点，美国宇航局工程师一直在测试更小、更轻、电子设备有限的飞行器，以便生产出可以进行大量小型探索旅行的未来直升机。
Tzanetos shared details about one aircraft NASA is currently developing. It is called the Mars Chopper rotorcraft. Tzanetos said Chopper is about 20 times heavier than Ingenuity. Developers say it would be built to carry several kilograms of science equipment, while self-exploring distant areas of Mars. Chopper would also have a much longer travel ability, flying up to 3 kilometers in a day. Ingenuity’s longest flight was 704 meters.
查内托斯分享了美国宇航局目前正在开发的一架飞机的详细信息。它被称为火星直升机旋翼机。 Tzanetos 表示 Chopper 比 Ingenuity 重约 20 倍。开发人员表示，它将建造成携带数公斤的科学设备，同时自我探索火星的遥远区域。直升机还具有更长的飞行能力，一天飞行可达 3 公里。 Ingenuity 的最长飞行距离为 704 米。
Tzanetos said that overall, “Ingenuity has given us the confidence and data to envision the future of flight at Mars.”
查内托斯表示，总的来说，“独创性给了我们信心和数据来展望火星飞行的未来。”