The planned five-flight mission is now at 21 flights and counting.
The Ingenuity team has continued to adapt to support the continued mission of the helicopter, noted Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity team lead at JPL, in the same statement. Team members"are making upgrades to our flight software geared toward improving operational flexibility and flight safety," Tzanetos said.
"Future software upgrades may include adding terrain elevation maps into the navigation filter, and a landing-hazard-avoidance capability," JPL noted. These dynamic flight features may be necessary to continue Ingenuity's track record of success, given that the Jezero delta features cliffs, boulders, sand traps and other obstacles.
Ingenuity's 22nd flight, expected to take place no earlier than March 19, will see the craft fly roughly a quarter of a mile , including a sharp mid-air turn to maneuver around a large hill. At least two or three more flights will be needed afterward to reach the delta, JPL stated. If that goes well, JPL stated, the chopper may be tasked with observing geologic features that Perseverance can't reach on the ground. It also might work to seek out landing zones and caching areas for a planned future sample-return mission to pick up.
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