Marscopter Ingenuity broke another record in altitude and speed
(NASA / JPL-Caltech https://bit.ly/3nX07kE)
Ingenuity just broke its own records for speed and flight altitude in the Martian atmosphere during the 49th flight.
Also, on the next scheduled flight, it will be on opposite sides of the ridge with the Perseverance rover, which could disrupt communication between them.
When Ingenuity landed on Mars a year ago, experts counted on only five short flights to confirm the possibility of using drones on other celestial bodies with atmospheres.
However, the helicopter is still in working condition and, having survived the winter and a series of failures, continues to photograph the surface of Mars during flights.
Now those flights are carried out over the delta of the ancient river that flowed into the Lake Lake crater.
The 49th flight took place on April 2, and the marscopter broke again its own records for speed and flight altitude: 6.5 meters per second and 16 meters, respectively.
The total distance traveled by the drone is now 11,224 meters and the total flight time is 86.7 minutes.
There are still no restrictions on the duration of the drone on Mars, most likely, it will fly until it fails.
The experience gained with Ingenuity will help build two drones to transport samples on Mars and an octocopter for Titan.
Sources:
- NASA: https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/#Flight-Log
- Space.com: https://www.space.com/ingenuity-mars-helicopter-breaks-records-flight-49
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/NASAJPL/status/1643034192471818241
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