NASA’s History-Making Mars Helicopter Gets to Keep Flying, Because It Rocks – CNET

The Ingenuity helicopter made aviation history on Mars.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

This story is part of Welcome to Mars, our series exploring the red planet.

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter was a huge question mark when it was on its way to the red planet. Would it fly at all? It answered that question with a resounding “yes” and then went on to defy expectations by achieving 21 successful flights. Those feats have earned the plucky rotorcraft a mission extension through September.

NASA JPL announced the extension in a statement on Tuesday. “In the months ahead, history’s first aircraft to operate from the surface of another world will support the Perseverance rover’s upcoming science campaign exploring the ancient river delta of Jezero Crater,” NASA said.

Solar-powered Ingenuity’s first flight took place in April 2021 and it’s been testing its skills against the thin atmosphere and the dusty and windy conditions of Mars ever since. It’s navigated technical glitches and received software updates to keep it flying.

After proving that powered, controlled flight is possible on another planet, Ingenuity stepped into the role of scout for its companion, the Perseverance rover. The pair is preparing to explore an important delta region within the crater. It will be challenging for both the rover and the chopper.

NASA Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter explore the wilds of Mars

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“Filled with jagged cliffs, angled surfaces, projecting boulders and sand-filled pockets that could stop a rover in its tracks (or upend a helicopter upon landing), the delta promises to hold numerous geologic revelations — perhaps even the proof necessary to determine that microscopic life once existed on Mars billions of years ago,” NASA said.

Ingenuity will be used to help plan the rover’s path and assess potential targets for scientific study. So far, the helicopter has spent over 38 minutes in the air and covered 2.9 miles (4.64 kilometers). That’s an exceptional first chapter for an experimental machine that’s evolving the way we explore other worlds.