An alien flight: Perseverance captures Ingenuity helicopter flying over Martian desert

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter achieved a historic milestone when it completed its 50th flight on Mars on April 13. The helicopter flew well over 1,000 feet and reached an altitude of nearly 60 feet during the flight. "Just as the Wright brothers continued their experiments well after that momentous day at Kitty Hawk in 1903, the Ingenuity team continues to pursue and learn from the flight operations of the first aircraft on another world," Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, said in a statement.

NASA accompanied news of the 50th flight by Ingenuity along with a video of the helicopter flying over the Martian desert on its 47th flight. The video was captured by the Perseverance rover from almost 400 feet away and is absolutely fascinating.

"This video shows the dust initially kicked up by the helicopter's spinning rotors, as well as Ingenuity taking off, hovering, and beginning its 1,444-foot (440-meter) journey to the southwest," the space agency said. "The rotorcraft landed — off camera — at Airfield 'Iota.'"

A helicopter flying on another planet is an amazing feat for humanity. Ingenuity landed on Mars in February 2021 while being attached to NASA's Mars Perseverance rover. It undertook its first flight on April 19, 2021, and is approaching the two-year anniversary of its flight.

Each flight by the Ingenuity helicopter offers new insight into the red planet. It is proving to be exceptional for the scientists who can use data from its flight to design future Mars helicopters.

Ingenuity helicopter left the Jezero Crater’s floor on January 19 and has taken 11 flights since then. It has set new speed and altitude records of 14.5 mph (6.5 metres per second) and 59 feet (18 metres) while doing so.

Ingenuity has been navigating rugged and relatively uncharted terrain with each flight.

“We are not in Martian Kansas anymore,” Josh Anderson, Ingenuity operations lead at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said.

“We’re flying over the dried-up remnants of an ancient river that is filled with sand dunes, boulders, and rocks, and surrounded by hills that could have us for lunch. And while we recently upgraded the navigation software onboard to help determine safe airfields, every flight is still a white-knuckler.”

Perseverance recently explored Foel Drygarn which is likely to contain hydrated silica. Ingenuity is now headed to Mount Julian from where it can capture a panoramic view into nearby Belva Crater.