NASA’s Mars Ingenuity Helicopter Goes Faster, Higher on 49th Flight

NASA's Mars Ingenuity helicopter is now the little helicopter that can.

The space agency's companion helicopter to its Perseverance rover has successfully executed its 49th flight on the Red Planet while making records of how it did so.

NASA experts previously predicted that Ingenuity would start breaking down after its fifth flight, but the little helicopter proved them wrong time after time.

Ingenuity 49th Flight Details

NASA recently revealed in its Ingenuity flight log that the helicopter managed to complete its 49th flight - a record of its own - by reaching a top speed of 14.5 mph and a maximum altitude of 52.5 feet on Apr. 2.

These feats made Ingenuity's 49th flight the highest and fastest flight in its commission, breaking its previous record of 13.4 mph and 46 feet in speed and altitude, respectively.

As a result of these records, NASA posted the news to its NASA JPL Twitter account with the following caption: "Two new records for the #MarsHelicopter! Ingenuity successfully completed Flight 49, setting a new flight speed record of 14.5 mph (6.5 m/s) and an altitude record of 52.5 ft (16 meters)."

Ingenuity's cameras took three photos during its 49th flight, though it is not as noteworthy as the Martian sunset it captured during its 45th flight on Feb. 22. The pictures were of Mars' surface as the camera Ingenuity used to take them during the flight was its navigation camera, which was pointed down to track the ground during flight, per NASA's Mars Perseverance Raw Images page.

Another reason why most of Ingenuity's pictures were of the Martian surface was due to its mission of searching for "interesting biological features" and potential obstacles for Perseverance to look out for.

After all, Ingenuity's main task is to capture airborne imagery that gives Perseverance's handlers the necessary data they need to choose the safest and most efficient route toward the delta region, according to NASA mission team members.

At this point, it is unknown when Ingenuity will continue to remain fully functional, but experts are anticipating the worst whenever the helicopter takes flight, per NASA Ingenuity team lead Teddy Tzanetos.

Ingenuity's History

Ingenuity arrived on Mars as the companion of NASA's Mars Perseverance rover on Feb. 18, 2021, on the Red Planet's Jezero Crater. During its time on Mars, it helped its companion and its Ingenuity mission team members to navigate Perseverance through the Martian surface and find signs of ancient microbial life while doing so.

While the little helicopter could experience a malfunction anytime soon, Tzanetos would consider when it does a "fantastic discovery" and a "data point" for NASA to understand flight on another planet, per a UPI article.

Regardless of its inevitable future, the little helicopter's 49th flight puts it at a striking distance for its 50th flight - exceeding its expected lifespan ten times over and proving its longevity in the process.