Ingenuity flies to Mars for the 23rd time
The little helicopter continues to amaze. Ingenuity has in fact also successfully completed the 23rd flight on Mars. There NASA has communicated that the data collected (especially images) will be used to discover potential targets of Perseverance. The rover will reach the delta of the river that fed the lake inside the Jezero crater billions of years ago.
Ingenuity continues to fly
To describe the success of the umpteenth Ingenuity flying excursion, just think that the original objective was only to verify the possibility of flying in extreme conditions, such as those represented by the Martian atmosphere. NASA engineers had indeed predicted only five demonstration flights. Despite various vicissitudes, including a sandstorm, the number has reached 23.
As explained a few days ago, Ingenuity will now have to carry out an inspection of the area chosen for the second mission of Perseverance. NASA had planned the route to follow, but something went wrong. With the 22nd flight a distance of 350 meters had to be covered and the helicopter also had to follow a non-straight trajectory.
Reading the flight log on the official website, it turns out that Ingenuity has traveled only 68 meters at a speed of 1 m / s (3.6 Km / h) for 101.4 seconds. The reasons for this change of plans are unknown, but the success of the 23rd flight confirms that the helicopter is still functioning.
23 flights and counting! #MarsHelicopter successfully completed its 23rd excursion. It flew for 129.1 seconds over 358 meters. Data from Ingenuity in the new region it’s headed to will help the @NASAPersevere team find potential science targets. pic.twitter.com/I63LrizOEc
– NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) March 25, 2022
After you have covered 358 meters in 129.1 seconds, this is Ingenuity’s current position. At the top right you can also see the position of Perseverance which obviously cannot cross the rocky areas and therefore follows a longer path.
