Mars Ingenuity Helicopter Completes Its 11th Flight

NASA has been extremely successful with the Mars Ingenuity Helicopter that has flown around in the skies of Mars for much longer than it was originally expected to. Recently, the helicopter finished its 11th flight traveling 1250 feet. Ingenuity woke up for its flight at about 12:30 PM local time on Mars, which was 12:47 AM EDT on the morning of Wednesday, August 4.

For the flight, the helicopter was to climb to an altitude of 39 feet above the surface of the Red Planet and reach speeds of 11 mph. The flight was successful and lasted 130.9 seconds.

Currently, NASA is using the helicopter to scout out locations for Perseverance to study in more detail. While Ingenuity lacks scientific instruments, it’s much more maneuverable than Perseverance. It allows scientists to get an idea if an area is worth inspecting up close before sending the rover to do its work.

NASA plans to keep conducting flights with Ingenuity as long as possible. Despite some issues with past flights, the helicopter continues to operate well, and hopefully will continue to operate into the future.