Mars Ingenuity Helicopter Makes 48th Error-Free Flight Written 23 March 2023
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Artist’s concept of the Mars Helicopter, a small, autonomous rotorcraft. | Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
SPACE reports that the Ingenuity helicopter “buzzed over the Martian landscape at a maximum altitude of around 39 feet (12 meters), observing potential science targets that could be studied by its robotic partner, NASA’s life-hunting Perseverance rover.” The rotorcraft “traveled at a top speed of 10.4 mph (16.7 kph) during Tuesday’s flight, which covered a horizontal distance of around 1,300 feet (400 meters) and lasted nearly 150 seconds, according to the mission’s flight log.” The helicopter became the first machine to fly in the skies of another planet in 2021, and this marked the 48th flight since then.
Full Story (SPACE)