NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter continues to push the boundaries of extraterrestrial flight. The 4-pound (1.8 kilogram) Ingenuity made its 59th trip to Mars on Saturday, September 16, climbing higher than ever before.

“Creativity broke a new record! #MarsHelicopter successfully completed its 59th flight and flew at the highest altitude of 20 meters [66 футів]. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California said the propeller remained airborne for 142.59 seconds. Who is leading the aired helicopter mission? X On Tuesday, September 19th.

Flight 59 was right in the air; According to the mission’s flight log, Ingenuity did not cover horizontal distance during the jump. In February 2021, Ingenuity landed alongside NASA’s Perseverance rover at the floor of the 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero Crater, which once contained a large lake and river delta.

Perseverance is searching the Lake for signs of ancient life on Mars and collecting samples to be sent to Earth in the future. Ingenuity acts as a scout for the rover crew, helping to find good routes for Perseverance to travel and identify promising science targets for exploration.

A rotorcraft does the job on a long mission. Its main mission was to demonstrate that aerial exploration was possible on Mars, despite the planet’s thin atmosphere. Ingenuity completed this proof-of-concept mission in five flights several months after landing on the Red Planet and then continued flying.

According to the flight log, during 59 flights, Ingenuity traveled a total of 43,652 feet (13,304 m) and spent 106.5 minutes in the air. Before Flight 59, the helicopter’s altitude marker was 59 feet (18 m). The distance and time records for a single flight are 2,310 feet (704 meters) and 169.5 seconds in April 2022 and August 2021, respectively. Source