NASA prolong Mars Helicopter Mission to September

After the “Ingenuity” Mars helicopter successfully completed 21 Mars flights, NASA decided to extend its mission to September. In the coming months, the first aircraft in history to operate on another planet’s surface will aid Perseverance’s scientific activities, including the exploration of the ancient river delta in Jezero Crater.

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In the meantime, Wit will continue to test its capabilities to help with the design of future Mars vehicles. The “Wit” Mars helicopter landed in Jezero Crater on Mars with Perseverance in February last year, successfully achieved its maiden flight in April, and completed its 21st Mars flight on March 11 this year.

Moreover, 370 meters were flown in a 129-second mission. Since its maiden flight in April 2021, the helicopter has now traveled more than 4.6 kilometers, with a total flight time of more than 38 minutes.

It is worth mentioning that it was originally planned to only attempt 5 test flights in 30 Martian days (31 Earth days). Because the five missions performed so well, NASA was quick to approve the mission extension.

At this stage, it has been serving as Perseverance’s scout, accompanying like a gentleman, and trying to explore the boundaries of Mars flight, and its main task actually includes searching for signs of life on Mars and collecting dozens of samples for future return to Earth.

Furthermore, the research team has recently been eager to study this delta up close, because deltas on Earth tend to preserve some carbon-containing organic chemicals and signs of life, so they think this area is more likely to exist if there is life.

During its 21 Mars flights, Ingenuity stayed aloft for a total of 38.8 minutes and flew 15,246 feet (4.65 kilometers). That’s wider than Perseverance’s coverage on Mars. The Perseverance rover’s odometer currently reads 2.73 miles (4.39 kilometers).

(via)