Update (4/12/21):  NASA has chosen to reschedule the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter's first experimental flight to no earlier than Wednesday, April 14. The agency provided a status update on Saturday to share that the flight of its first and only Martian helicopter, previously scheduled to lift off on April 11, had been postponed by a further three days. The aircraft will now remain grounded on the surface of the Red Planet until at least April 14 after a problem was detected during one of its final pre-flight tests.

NEWS: We're now targeting no earlier than Wednesday, April 14, for our Ingenuity #MarsHelicopter’s attempt at the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. Details: https://t.co/LaoY7zyijY pic.twitter.com/TIwlZ3foD1

— NASA (@NASA) April 10, 2021

"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," NASA explained in a statement. "This occurred as it was trying to transition the flight computer from Pre-Flight to Flight mode. The helicopter is safe and healthy and communicated its full telemetry set to Earth. "The watchdog timer oversees the command sequence and alerts the system to any potential issues. It helps the system stay safe by not proceeding if an issue is observed and worked as planned. The helicopter team is reviewing telemetry to diagnose and understand the issue. Following that, they will reschedule the full-speed test." Original story follows. [poilib element="accentDivider"] The first flight of NASA's Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, has been delayed to April 11 to give the team and the aircraft more time for preparation. Originally scheduled to fly on April 8, NASA delayed the flight of its first and only Martian helicopter to give the Ingenuity team back on Earth more time to characterize the helicopter's energy story. The extra time is also just a matter of caution as well, as the team is being "extremely careful" with every step they make in the process. [caption id="attachment_2496195" align="alignnone" width="720"] NASA Working on Ingenuity Helicopter, Photo Credit: NASA[/caption] The helicopter, which weighs about four pounds with a wingspan of 1.2 meters, is powered by batteries that are charged through solar panels on its top side and at a full battery, the helicopter can fly for about 90 seconds, according to NASA. It must then land safely and charge enough of its battery again to power the heater on-board as this protects the helicopter from the Red Planet's cold nights.

Ingenuity's flight delay on Mars

The extra three days give the Ingenuity team the time it needs to get a better read on what that power cycle looks like and more importantly, ensure that's its energy is positive throughout all steps of the process. The helicopter's first flight will occur on a full battery and it will only fly a couple of meters up during that first flight before returning to the surface of Mars. It won't go any higher than about 15 feet, according to NASA. "This next step (flying for the first time) is huge," Mars helicopter operations lead, Tim Canham, said during an Ingenuity Q&A held today. "Can it go up and hover and land safely? That will be a major moment of triumph for the helicopter team." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=sights-and-sounds-of-mars-from-nasas-perseverance-rover&captions=true"] That's currently scheduled for April 11, although an official time has not been announced. The flight will not be live-streamed, however. People back on Earth won't see anything of the flight until the telemetry of the flight is retrieved, which will take a couple of sols – or Martian days – which are about 40 minutes longer than days on Earth. NASA said the Perseverance rover, which is the rover that recently landed on Mars and carried Ingenuity to the planet with it, will be watching the flight from about 65 meters away. It will take photos that will eventually make it to Earth, but that could take some time as well.

Why NASA's Ingenuity flight is such a big deal

What makes this first flight such a milestone for NASA, beyond it being the first flight of a helicopter on Mars, is that it's powered completely by pre-programmed sequences. There are no joysticks involved nor is the helicopter remote-controlled. "The sequences (of flight) were prebuilt by the team on the ground," Perseverance operations engineer, Elio Morillo, said during the NASA Q&A. "These sequences have been tested over the years, (but) they're pre-canned. We do not have real-time control of the helicopter. It's completely autonomous." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/23/nasas-perseverance-rover-touchdown-on-mars"] This posed a lot of challenges for the Ingenuity team. What happens if there's a Martian wind gust that happens during a flight? The helicopter has sensors that can detect those wind gusts and correct its course accordingly. For the most part, though, the prebuilt flight sequences have been tested over and over again in chambers that simulate what Ingenuity is experiencing on Mars. The Perseverance will watch Ingenuity's first flight roughly 65 meters away from the helicopter on the Van Zyl Overlook. It will take images and the team is currently determining if the rover will be able to record sound. It has a directional mic on-board, but the team isn't sure if, due to the distance, it will be able to pick up sound from the helicopter. Perseverance integration lead, Farah Alibay, said it's important to remember that Mars' atmosphere, which is 1% the density of Earth's atmosphere, is quite different from our planet and as a result, sound travels differently on it. [caption id="attachment_2496193" align="alignnone" width="720"] NASA Ingenuity Milestone List, Photo Credit: NASA[/caption] After the first flight, Perseverance and Ingenuity will go their separate ways. Ingenuity will begin to charge and prepare for its next flight and Perseverance will return to its original mission: collecting samples of Mars to be sent back to Earth during a later mission. The two vehicles will still communicate by way of radio, though. The base team will talk to Perseverance and Perseverance will relay the messages to Ingenuity. The helicopter will respond to the Perseverance and the rover will pass the message along to Earth.

Ingenuity's main mission on Mars

As far as the bigger picture for Ingenuity goes, its mission is to serve as a technology demonstration. "Ingenuity is a test vehicle for Mars," Canham said. "It will take super-detailed logs...500 times a second...(for us) to see what happened and characterize flying on Mars. An apt analogy is the Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner — to try something never been done before and learn a ton from it...for future engineers and scientists to make bigger and better helicopters for Mars." While waiting for Ingenuity's first flight on Mars next week, check out this story about the Perseverance's successful landing on Mars in February and then check out this video of the rover's touchdown. Read this story about the first sights and sounds captured by Perseverance after that and then check out this story about a hidden message on the rover's parachute. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer, guide maker, and science guru for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

To tie in with its day-long celebration of First Contact Day, Star Trek has shown off a brand new teaser for Star Trek: Picard's second season -- and with it, confirmed that the elusive Q will make an appearance.

"The trial never ends." ✨ #StarTrekPicard #FirstContactDay pic.twitter.com/42ey4IyN2y

— Star Trek (@StarTrek) April 5, 2021

The trailer features a voiceover of Patrick Stewart as Picard musing on the subject of time, though we don't see his face in the trailer. Instead, we see a series of objects connected to both the idea of time and Picard's own history, culminating in a Queen of Hearts playing card that disintegrates, until only the letter "Q" is left. John de Lancie has separately confirmed on his own Twitter that he will be reprising the role of Q, which he has played across numerous Star Trek properties including Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and more. In his multiple encounters with Picard, he has served as an enigmatic mentor figure, as well as often providing comic relief. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/20/a-look-at-the-world-of-star-trek-picard"] Other returning actors for Season 2 include Alison Pill (Agnes Jurati), Isa Briones (Soji Asha), Evan Evagora (Elnor), Michelle Hurd (Raffi Musiker), Santiago Cabrera (Chris Rios), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), Orla Brady (Laris) and Brent Spiner (Data). Star Trek: Picard's first season ended last January, with our review at the time calling the final episode emotional, if scattershot. Its second season is planned for some time in 2022 exclusively on Paramount+, and is expected to last for ten more episodes. The series has also been renewed for a third season. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

To tie in with its day-long celebration of First Contact Day, Star Trek has shown off a brand new teaser for Star Trek: Picard's second season -- and with it, confirmed that the elusive Q will make an appearance.

"The trial never ends." ✨ #StarTrekPicard #FirstContactDay pic.twitter.com/42ey4IyN2y

— Star Trek (@StarTrek) April 5, 2021

The trailer features a voiceover of Patrick Stewart as Picard musing on the subject of time, though we don't see his face in the trailer. Instead, we see a series of objects connected to both the idea of time and Picard's own history, culminating in a Queen of Hearts playing card that disintegrates, until only the letter "Q" is left. John de Lancie has separately confirmed on his own Twitter that he will be reprising the role of Q, which he has played across numerous Star Trek properties including Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and more. In his multiple encounters with Picard, he has served as an enigmatic mentor figure, as well as often providing comic relief. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/20/a-look-at-the-world-of-star-trek-picard"] Other returning actors for Season 2 include Alison Pill (Agnes Jurati), Isa Briones (Soji Asha), Evan Evagora (Elnor), Michelle Hurd (Raffi Musiker), Santiago Cabrera (Chris Rios), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), Orla Brady (Laris) and Brent Spiner (Data). Star Trek: Picard's first season ended last January, with our review at the time calling the final episode emotional, if scattershot. Its second season is planned for some time in 2022 exclusively on Paramount+, and is expected to last for ten more episodes. The series has also been renewed for a third season. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Save Me Mr Tako, a Game Boy-style platformer about a helpful octopus, is returning to storefronts in May after its delisting following the developer's separation from publisher Nicalis. In a Patreon post, developer Christophe Galati announced that Save Me Mr Tako would be getting a definitive edition digitally on Steam and Nintendo Switch on May 5, 2021. Galati will self-publish his game on PC via Steam, while Limited Run Games handles the console edition. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/10/08/save-me-mr-tako-release-date-trailer"] Save Me Mr Tako is a tribute to the Game Boy era, and features a pacifist octopus named Tako with the ability to thrive on land as well as in the water, who travels the world and mediates conflict between humans and octopuses. Its new Definitive Edition includes a number of updates, including numerous quality of life, technical, and balance changes, as well as a hint system, three difficulty modes, a jukebox, new border images, and a new English localization. Save Me Mr Tako was originally launched in October of 2018, but was delisted from all digital storefronts two years later after Galati parted ways with original publisher Nicalis. At the time, no specific reason was given for their separation. However, Galati had previously alluded to issues with releasing game patches through Nicalis, indicating that Nicalis was entirely in control of whether or not issues with the game got fixed. Nicalis president Tyrone Rodriguez replied on Twitter at the time that Save Me Mr Tako "did not yet make back what we put into it" and couldn't justify the resources to QA the patch. A Kotaku report from around that same time indicated that Galati was not the only indie developer with this or similar issues. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Save Me Mr Tako, a Game Boy-style platformer about a helpful octopus, is returning to storefronts in May after its delisting following the developer's separation from publisher Nicalis. In a Patreon post, developer Christophe Galati announced that Save Me Mr Tako would be getting a definitive edition digitally on Steam and Nintendo Switch on May 5, 2021. Galati will self-publish his game on PC via Steam, while Limited Run Games handles the console edition. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/10/08/save-me-mr-tako-release-date-trailer"] Save Me Mr Tako is a tribute to the Game Boy era, and features a pacifist octopus named Tako with the ability to thrive on land as well as in the water, who travels the world and mediates conflict between humans and octopuses. Its new Definitive Edition includes a number of updates, including numerous quality of life, technical, and balance changes, as well as a hint system, three difficulty modes, a jukebox, new border images, and a new English localization. Save Me Mr Tako was originally launched in October of 2018, but was delisted from all digital storefronts two years later after Galati parted ways with original publisher Nicalis. At the time, no specific reason was given for their separation. However, Galati had previously alluded to issues with releasing game patches through Nicalis, indicating that Nicalis was entirely in control of whether or not issues with the game got fixed. Nicalis president Tyrone Rodriguez replied on Twitter at the time that Save Me Mr Tako "did not yet make back what we put into it" and couldn't justify the resources to QA the patch. A Kotaku report from around that same time indicated that Galati was not the only indie developer with this or similar issues. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Black Panther 2 director Ryan Coogler recently spoke about the late Chadwick Boseman, and shared that he knows his friend and collaborator "wouldn't have wanted us to stop." In an interview with THR, Coogler began by revealing that he didn't know much of the battle Boseman was going through with colon cancer, a fight that took his life way too early at the age of 43. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/08/12/the-mcus-infinity-saga-ranked"] "I didn't know what was going on," Coogler says. "I knew what he wanted me to know. I miss him in every way that you could miss somebody, as a friend, as a collaborator. And it sucks because I love watching movies, and I don't get to watch the next thing he would have made. So it's grief on a lot of levels, but then, it's a deep sense of gratitude because I can close my eyes and hear his voice." Coogler was in the middle of writing the sequel to Black Panther when Boseman passed, and he discussed how, although it was difficult to continue working on the film without its star and his friend, he knows "Chad wouldn't have wanted us to stop." "You've got to keep going when you lose loved ones. I know Chad wouldn't have wanted us to stop. He was somebody who was so about the collective. Black Panther, that was his movie. He was hired to play that role before anybody else was even thought of, before I was hired, before any of the actresses were hired. On that set, he was all about everybody else. Even though he was going through what he was going through, he was checking in on them, making sure they were good. If we cut his coverage, he would stick around and read lines off camera [to help other actors with their performances]. So it would be harder for me to stop. Truthfully. I'd feel him yelling at me, like, 'What are you doing?' So you keep going." Coogler explained. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvel-cinematic-universe-every-upcoming-movie-and-tv-show&captions=true"] Black Panther is scheduled to begin filming in July 2021, and Marvel Studios has already confirmed that it will not be recasting Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa. Beyond Black Panther 2, Coogler is also working on expanding its world with the upcoming Disney+ series based on the Kingdom of Wakanda. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Black Panther 2 director Ryan Coogler recently spoke about the late Chadwick Boseman, and shared that he knows his friend and collaborator "wouldn't have wanted us to stop." In an interview with THR, Coogler began by revealing that he didn't know much of the battle Boseman was going through with colon cancer, a fight that took his life way too early at the age of 43. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/08/12/the-mcus-infinity-saga-ranked"] "I didn't know what was going on," Coogler says. "I knew what he wanted me to know. I miss him in every way that you could miss somebody, as a friend, as a collaborator. And it sucks because I love watching movies, and I don't get to watch the next thing he would have made. So it's grief on a lot of levels, but then, it's a deep sense of gratitude because I can close my eyes and hear his voice." Coogler was in the middle of writing the sequel to Black Panther when Boseman passed, and he discussed how, although it was difficult to continue working on the film without its star and his friend, he knows "Chad wouldn't have wanted us to stop." "You've got to keep going when you lose loved ones. I know Chad wouldn't have wanted us to stop. He was somebody who was so about the collective. Black Panther, that was his movie. He was hired to play that role before anybody else was even thought of, before I was hired, before any of the actresses were hired. On that set, he was all about everybody else. Even though he was going through what he was going through, he was checking in on them, making sure they were good. If we cut his coverage, he would stick around and read lines off camera [to help other actors with their performances]. So it would be harder for me to stop. Truthfully. I'd feel him yelling at me, like, 'What are you doing?' So you keep going." Coogler explained. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvel-cinematic-universe-every-upcoming-movie-and-tv-show&captions=true"] Black Panther is scheduled to being filming in July 2021, and Marvel Studios has already confirmed that it will not be recasting Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa. Beyond Black Panther 2, Coogler is also working on expanding its world with the upcoming Disney+ series based on the Kingdom of Wakanda. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

The Borderlands movie has added Edgar Ramirez to its growing cast who will play a character named Atlas. In the video game series, Atlas is the name of one of the major corporations and gun manufacturers. Furthermore, Lionsgate revealed the official plot for the upcoming movie. According to the official press release, Ramirez will play "business titan and arms manufacturer" Atlas, so presumably the company's founder. The release says at the time of the movie Atlas is "the most powerful person in the universe." According to Lionsgate here's the official synopsis for the movie:

Two-time Academy Award® winner Cate Blanchett teams up with Kevin Hart in director Eli Roth’s Borderlands. Lilith (Blanchett), an infamous outlaw with a mysterious past, reluctantly returns to her home planet of Pandora to find the missing daughter of the universe’s most powerful S.O.B., Atlas (Ramirez). Lilith forms an alliance with an unexpected team – Roland (Hart), a former elite mercenary, now desperate for redemption; Tiny Tina (Greenblatt), a feral pre-teen demolitionist; Krieg (Munteanu), Tina’s musclebound, rhetorically challenged protector; Tannis (Curtis), the scientist with a tenuous grip on sanity; and Claptrap (Black), a persistently wiseass robot. These unlikely heroes must battle alien monsters and dangerous bandits to find and protect the missing girl, who may hold the key to unimaginable power. The fate of the universe could be in their hands – but they’ll be fighting for something more: each other. Based on the game from Gearbox and 2K, one of the bestselling videogame franchises of all time, welcome to Borderlands.

The plot seems to be diverging from the games in places as Atlas was never seen in the games properly. During the events of Borderlands 2 Atlas is in the control of Hyperion and its CEO Handsome Jack, and in Borderlands 3 Atlas changes hands over to Rhys, one of the protagonists from Tales From the Borderlands. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=live-action-versions-of-video-game-characters&captions=true"] The Atlas Corporation featured prominently in Borderlands 3, and its headquarters on the planet Promethea was a key location in the game. So there could be some overlap between the movie and the most recent Borderlands game there. The cast for the Borderlands movie, directed by Eli Roth, includes Blanchett as Lilith, Hart as Roland, Greenblatt as Tiny Tina, Jamie Lee Curtis as Dr. Tannis, Jack Black as the voice of Claptrap, and more. The screenplay is being written by Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin, who is also working on HBO's live-action adaptation of The Last of Us starring Pedro Pascal as Joel. [caption id="attachment_2496167" align="alignnone" width="3745"] Edgar Ramirez will play Atlas. Credit: Lionsgate[/caption] Borderlands is one of several video game adaptations in the works, either for film or television. A Mortal Kombat live-action film is set to premiere on HBO Max later this month, while an Uncharted live-action movie starring Tom Holland as a young Nathan Drake has wrapped filming. Time will tell which of these video game adaptations will finally make the successful leap to the silver screen. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor.

The Borderlands movie has added Edgar Ramirez to its growing cast who will play a character named Atlas. In the video game series, Atlas is the name of one of the major corporations and gun manufacturers. Furthermore, Lionsgate revealed the official plot for the upcoming movie. According to the official press release, Ramirez will play "business titan and arms manufacturer" Atlas, so presumably the company's founder. The release says at the time of the movie Atlas is "the most powerful person in the universe." According to Lionsgate here's the official synopsis for the movie:

Two-time Academy Award® winner Cate Blanchett teams up with Kevin Hart in director Eli Roth’s Borderlands. Lilith (Blanchett), an infamous outlaw with a mysterious past, reluctantly returns to her home planet of Pandora to find the missing daughter of the universe’s most powerful S.O.B., Atlas (Ramirez). Lilith forms an alliance with an unexpected team – Roland (Hart), a former elite mercenary, now desperate for redemption; Tiny Tina (Greenblatt), a feral pre-teen demolitionist; Krieg (Munteanu), Tina’s musclebound, rhetorically challenged protector; Tannis (Curtis), the scientist with a tenuous grip on sanity; and Claptrap (Black), a persistently wiseass robot. These unlikely heroes must battle alien monsters and dangerous bandits to find and protect the missing girl, who may hold the key to unimaginable power. The fate of the universe could be in their hands – but they’ll be fighting for something more: each other. Based on the game from Gearbox and 2K, one of the bestselling videogame franchises of all time, welcome to Borderlands.

The plot seems to be diverging from the games in places as Atlas was never seen in the games properly. During the events of Borderlands 2 Atlas is in the control of Hyperion and its CEO Handsome Jack, and in Borderlands 3 Atlas changes hands over to Rhys, one of the protagonists from Tales From the Borderlands. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=live-action-versions-of-video-game-characters&captions=true"] The Atlas Corporation featured prominently in Borderlands 3, and its headquarters on the planet Promethea was a key location in the game. So there could be some overlap between the movie and the most recent Borderlands game there. The cast for the Borderlands movie, directed by Eli Roth, includes Blanchett as Lilith, Hart as Roland, Greenblatt as Tiny Tina, Jamie Lee Curtis as Dr. Tannis, Jack Black as the voice of Claptrap, and more. The screenplay is being written by Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin, who is also working on HBO's live-action adaptation of The Last of Us starring Pedro Pascal as Joel. [caption id="attachment_2496167" align="alignnone" width="3745"] Edgar Ramirez will play Atlas. Credit: Lionsgate[/caption] Borderlands is one of several video game adaptations in the works, either for film or television. A Mortal Kombat live-action film is set to premiere on HBO Max later this month, while an Uncharted live-action movie starring Tom Holland as a young Nathan Drake has wrapped filming. Time will tell which of these video game adaptations will finally make the successful leap to the silver screen. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor.

Imagine you’re Sebastian Stan, star of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. You’re getting your coffee order one morning when suddenly a stranger starts spouting the supposed code words that make your character Buckey Barnes, a formerly brainwashed assassin, turn into a murder machine.

Such interactions happen “quite often,” Stan confirmed to BBC Radio 1.

“It happens at coffee shops,” Stan said. “It happens a lot. And it's always very funny. It's an honorable thing I guess. You're very taken with it all the time. You do have to sometimes look at people in the face and say, 'No, I will not become the Winter Soldier when you say that. You can keep saying it, and maybe you should say it, maybe that's a moment we both need to have together, now, here. But nothing crazy will happen.'”

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/03/falcon-and-winter-soldier-episode-3-this-mcu-character-reveal-changes-everything-canon-fodder"]

Fans first got a look at those mysterious code words, which the nefarious Hydra used to continually brainwash Buckey, in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. They were then later used by Helmut Zemo, a former Sokovian colonel, to reactivate Buckey’s Winter Soldier persona in Captain America: Civil War.

If you were wondering what the code words were in case you happened to stumble into Stan at your local coffee joint: “Longing, rusted, seventeen, daybreak, furnace, nine, benign, homecoming, one, freight car.”

Good luck trying to say it in Russian, though. Even that took Zemo some practice. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/02/the-falcon-and-the-winter-soldier-episode-3-review"]

If you’ve missed Zemo and his adversarial relationship to the Winter Soldier, you can check out IGN’s review of The Falcon and Winter Soldier episode 3. We’ve also got a lot of theories about the questions that episode 3 raises.

For more, visit our hub for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/Manchurian Candidate for IGN.