NASA's trailblazing Ingenuity helicopter has aced its 50th flight on Mars, a remarkable feat considering it was only ever expected to embark on five missions.
To mark the special occasion, NASA posted a video showing some of the key moments of Ingenuity’s mission so far.
The trip saw the 4-pound, 19-inch-tall helicopter travel more than 1,057 feet in 145.7 seconds. It also achieved a new altitude record of 59 feet before touching down near the half-mile-wide Belva Crater. But its impressive ability to handle the thin martian air and harsh climate inspired Ingenuity’s team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to push the device higher, faster, and, further in subsequent flights, and even use the aircraft and its on-board camera to assist Perseverance, the ground-based rover that arrived on Mars with Ingenuity in 2021.
“Just as the Wright brothers continued their experiments well after that momentous day at Kitty Hawk in 1903, the Ingenuity team continues to pursue and learn from the flight operations of the first aircraft on another world,” said Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division.
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