NASA’s mars helicopter jumps first mile during the 10 flight!

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter
successfully made its 10 flight on July 24, the most complex to date, with 10
different landmarks and a flight height of 12 meters.

Illustration of the Ingenuity helicopter flying on Mars. (Photo: NASA / JPL-CALTECH / AFP)

After the 10 successful flight to the surface of Mars, NASA’s innovation helicopter has flown over a mile in Martian air.

The tenth flight of the
creativity on Saturday saw the four-pound drone Exploration in an area of
scientific interest called raised ledges, covering a distance of approximately
310 feet in just under three minutes. In addition to setting a record altitude
of 40 feet, the helicopter logged its first mile on 152 Mars Day (Mars Day)
after landing persistently in February.

The small helicopter was
originally planned to perform only five test flights, a technical demonstration
to see if it is indeed possible to fly in the very difficult environment of
Mars. After those five successful flights, Ingenuity embarked on extremely
exploratory missions. Challenging, looking for interesting terrain that the
Perseverance rover with all its science instruments could visit. In total, the
helicopter spent almost 17 minutes in the air.

Saturday’s 10 helicopter flew
through a series of 10 landmarks, as many as possible in a single flight, to
take photos of the towering ridges. Located within the ancient bed of the
Jezero crater lake, highland geology can help scientists decipher the history
of this region of Mars where liquid water once flowed to the surface and life
may have once existed. Mission scholars said in a news summary On July 21. Perseverance
will collect a sample from the Highlanders to be ready to return to Earth.

The #MarsHelicopter’s success today marks its 1-mile total distance flown. It targeted an area called “Raised Ridges.” This is the most complex flight yet w/ 10 distinct waypoints and a record height of 40 ft (12 m). Its scouting is aiding @NASAPersevere. https://t.co/tboEcnLvx3 pic.twitter.com/Wc6tDVimIT

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) July 25, 2021

This annotated map shows the
planned route for Ingenuity’s 10th trip, including the 10th waypoints it
successfully traversed.

Intelligence’s ability to cover
great distances and travel over challenging terrain makes it an excellent
companion for a car of perseverance. The helicopter can travel the route to
find interesting terrain and see if certain destinations are worth the rover
taking the time to travel and inspect. Efficiency is the key to interplanetary
exploration.

With the 10th flights landing, we
hope that Ingenuity will continue to push the limits of its historical life on
Mars and continue to provide positive results to assist scientists in their
quest to determine whether life may have appeared on Mars.