Mars Helicopter 'Ingenuity' Completes 50th Flight After Two Years on Mars

"Two years have passed since the Perseverance rover landed on Mars, carrying with it the Ingenuity helicopter," notes Slashdot reader quonset. "Created from off-the-shelf components, the helicopter was only designed to last about five flights. Instead, two years later, having become the first aircraft to fly and land on another planet, Ingenuity successfully completed its 50th flight." CNN reports that the 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) helicopter has now "surpassed all expectations," transitioning into "an aerial scout for the Perseverance rover as it explores an ancient lake and river delta on Mars."Each morning, the Helicopter Base Station on the Perseverance rover searches for Ingenuity's signal around the time the chopper is expected to "wake up," waiting for a sign that its aerial scout is still functioning. But Ingenuity's solar panels, batteries and rotor system are healthy. The chopper is "still doing fantastic," said Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity team lead at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "We're looking forward to just keep pushing that envelope." Since the helicopter left the flat floor of Jezero Crater and headed to the river delta in January, its flights have only grown more challenging. Ingenuity has flown over uncharted and rugged terrain with landing spots surrounded by potential hazards. "We are not in Martian Kansas anymore," said Josh Anderson, Ingenuity operations lead at JPL, in a statement. "We're flying over the dried-up remnants of an ancient river that is filled with sand dunes, boulders, and rocks, and surrounded by hills that could have us for lunch. And while we recently upgraded the navigation software onboard to help determine safe airfields, every flight is still a white-knuckler...." Ingenuity's team is already planning its next set of flights because the chopper has to remain at the right distance to stay in touch with the fast-moving rover, which can drive for hundreds of meters in a single day... The Perseverance rover is moving on from an area that could contain hydrated silica, which might have information about a warmer, wetter Martian past and any potential signs of life from billions of years ago. Up next is Mount Julian, a site that will provide the rover with a panoramic view into Belva Crater. Ingenuity's journey has demonstrated how useful aircraft can be on space missions, scouting places that rovers can't go or helping plot a safe path to the next destination.

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