After 10 successful flights on Mars, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has now covered more than a mile in the Martian air.
Ingenuity’s 10th flight on Saturday saw the four-pound drone
The little helicopter was originally planned to perform just five test flights, a tech demo to see if it was
Saturday’s 10th flight had the helicopter fly through a series of 10 waypoints, the most that it’s done in one flight, to get images of the Raised Ridges. Located within the ancient lakebed in Jezero Crater, the geology of the Raised Ridges could help scientists unpack the history of this area of Mars where liquid water once flowed over the surface, and life may have once existed. Mission scientists said in a
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Ingenuity’s ability to cover far distances and travel above difficult terrain makes it an excellent companion to the Perseverance rover. The helicopter can scout ahead to find interesting terrain and see if certain destinations are worth the rover taking the time to travel to and inspect. Efficiency is key in interplanetary exploration.
With 10 flights down, hopefully Ingenuity can keep pushing the boundaries in its historic life on Mars and continue to deliver positive results to aid in scientists’ quest to determine whether life ever appeared on Mars.