Since its maiden flight last April, Ingenuity’s Mars helicopter has consistently raised the bar in terms of range and altitude. And on December 3rd this year, Ingenuity made another flight, rising 14 meters above the planet’s surface during that flight, the absolute record for flight altitude ever made on any other planet.

Ingenuity’s flight over Earth was a fairly ordinary event, but the environmental conditions on the Red Planet make each of the flights literally a triumph of science and technology. The gravitational force on Mars is one-third that of Earth, and the surface density of the thin Martian atmosphere is only 1 percent that of Earth’s atmosphere. Additionally, it takes 12 minutes for a radio signal to travel the distance from Earth to Mars, making remote control impossible.

To date, Ingenuity has made 35 flights, covering a distance of 7,400 meters and staying in the air for approximately 60 minutes. The record flight, which lasted 52 seconds, was carried out with the Perseverance rover to relocate the helicopter and move more.

In addition, the updated navigation system of the Ingenuity helicopter was tested during this flight. Thanks to this update, the helicopter can now independently avoid hazards, compile and use digital maps of the surrounding area while flying and choosing a suitable landing point. All these new capabilities will allow Ingenuity to continue to act as an “explorer” of the Perseverance rover, whose surface is traveling to a new area of ​​the Jezero crater, whose surface has a highly complex character.