CNET News reports that NASA JPL confirmed the Ingenuity helicopter’s 29th flight in a tweet Tuesday, “saying the chopper completed the 66.6-second journey over the weekend, traveling 587 feet (179 meters) across Mars. Ingenuity’s previous flight, No. 28, took place at the end of April.”
Aviation Today (CNET News)
Tag: Ingenuity
Ingenuity Helicopter Experiences Insufficient Battery Charge as Martian Winter Begins
CNN reports that for the first time, “the Ingenuity team on Earth lost contact with Ingenuity on sols 427 and 428, or Martian days that correspond with May 3 and May 4.” The team “discovered that loss of contact occurred because Ingenuity experienced insufficient battery charge as night fell. This reduced voltage reset the mission clock, causing the helicopter’s system to be out of sync with its companion, the Perseverance rover.”
Full Story (CNN)
NASA Releases Footage of Ingenuity Helicopter Flight
SPACE reported that NASA “has just unveiled incredible new footage of its helicopter Ingenuity on a record-breaking flight on the Red Planet last month.” The video “shows the tiny Red Planet chopper as it flew across a distance of 2,310 feet (704 meters) at a speed of 12 mph (19 kph), with a view of Red Planet sands whirring by below.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Video
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Captures Video of Flight (NASA JPL via YouTube)
Ingenuity Makes 22nd Mars Flight
SPACE reports that NASA’s Ingenuity has made its 22nd Mars flight. Ingenuity “stayed aloft for 101.4 seconds and reached a maximum altitude of 33 feet (10 meters) during the sortie, which took place on Sunday.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Ingenuity Logs 20 Mars Flights
Aviation Week reports that NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter “has logged 20 flights as it has graduated to become a reconnaissance asset for the Perseverance rover.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Ingenuity Performs 19th Flight, Perseverance Sets Distance Record
SPACE reports that the Ingenuity helicopter “aced a 100-second sortie on Tuesday (Feb. 8), its 19th Red Planet flight overall but its first since Dec. 15.” The flight had been planned for January 5 but was delayed due to a dust storm near the Jezero Crater on Mars.
Full Story (SPACE)
Ingenuity Prepares for First Flight of 2022
CNET News reported that NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter “is getting ready to take its first flight of the year, and its 19th flight overall. The Ingenuity team anticipates takeoff could be tough due to the terrain it’s sitting on.” The flight is “scheduled to take place no earlier than Friday.”
Full Story (Air Force Magazine)
Ingenuity Helicopter Prepares for 14th Flight
SPACE reports that NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter “is getting ready for its 14th Red Planet flight, but the thinning Martian air is making such sorties more and more challenging.” The Ingenuity helicopter will test “higher rotor spin speeds to see if it can keep flying in rapidly changing seasonal atmospheric conditions on Mars.” The test flight “is expected to include a rotor speed of roughly 2,700 revolutions per minute (RPM), assuming that a planned ground test of a 2,800 RPM spin goes to plan.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Ingenuity Takes Off in Fourth Flight from Mars
SPACE reported that on Friday at 10:49 a.m. EDT, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter lifted off from Mars for the fourth time. Ingenuity “covered 872 feet (266 meters) of ground and reached a top speed of 8 mph (13 kph) during the 117-second jaunt, NASA officials said.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Ingenuity Conducts Third Flight on Mars
The New York Times reports that on Sunday, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter flew on Mars for the third time, traveling further and faster than the previous two flights. The helicopter “perfectly executed its instructions from Earth.” The helicopter “lifted 16 feet off the ground, then flew a round-trip distance of 328 feet before landing back where it started.” The distance “was about 25 times as far as the second flight flew three days ago. The helicopter reached a top speed of 4.5 miles per hour, and the flight lasted about one minute and 20 seconds.”
Full Story (New York Times)