On December 5, 2021, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter efficiently flew to a brand new vacation spot situated very near its unique airfield, Wright Brothers Field, the place it can await the arrival of the Perseverance rover. This 117-second flight pushed the overall flight time previous the 30-minute mark.
The Mastcam-Z instrument on NASA’s Perseverance rover took this picture of Ingenuity on December 1, 2021, when the rotorcraft was about 295 m (970 ft) away. Image credit score: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU / MSSS.
The solar-powered 49-cm- (19.3-inch-) tall Ingenuity helicopter was designed as a expertise demonstration to carry out as much as 5 experimental check flights.
It first flew on April 19, 2021, with a brief up-and-down hop to show powered, managed flight on Mars was potential.
The subsequent 4 experimental flights expanded the rotorcraft’s flight envelope, making more and more longer flights with extra sophisticated maneuvering.
With the sixth flight, the helicopter launched into a brand new operations demonstration part, investigating how aerial scouting and different capabilities may gain advantage future exploration of Mars and different worlds.
In this new chapter, Ingenuity has operated from airfields nicely south of Wright Brothers Field, scouting rocky outcrops and different geologic options of curiosity to the Perseverance science staff.
“Few thought we would make it to flight one, fewer still to five,” mentioned Ingenuity staff chief Dr. Teddy Tzanetos, a researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“And no one thought we would make it this far.”
“On the way to accumulating over a half-hour aloft Ingenuity has survived eight months of bitter cold, and operated out of nine unique Martian airfields.”
“The aircraft’s continued operations speaks to the robustness the design and the diligence and passion of our small operations team.”
Along with accumulating half-hour and 48 seconds of flight time, Ingenuity has traveled over the floor a distance of three.592 km (2.2 miles), flying as excessive as 12 m (40 ft) and as quick as 5 m/sec (10 mph).