NASA shares footage of Ingenuity helicopter's record-breaking flight on Mars; take a look

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA's) Ingenuity helicopter broke records as it flew the fastest and the farthest than ever before on Mars. In the latest report by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Ingenuity's record-breaking stint dates back to April 8 when it was airborne for the 25th time and covered a distance of 2,310 feet (704 meters) in a single stretch. The agency has even shared exciting aerial footage showing the helicopter ascend vertically and cruising at a speed of 12 mph (5.5 meters per second), the highest to date.

"For our record-breaking flight, Ingenuity’s downward-looking navigation camera provided us with a breathtaking sense of what it would feel like gliding 33 feet above the surface of Mars at 12 miles per hour", Ingenuity team lead Teddy Tzanetos said in a statement. 

Ingenuity's bold and daring flight

The JPL explained that the first frame of the video clip begins one second after Ingenuity began its aerial journey. It attained its maximum speed in less than three seconds after reaching an altitude of 33 feet or 10 meters. During its flight, the helicopter flew over a few sand ripples and several rock fields and finally landed at a relatively flat and featureless terrain, a perfect landing spot. The agency said that the entire flight, which lasted for a total of 161.3 seconds, was compressed to 35 seconds by speeding it up approximately five times. 

Ingenuity flies autonomously on the red planet after JPL engineers plan and send commands to the Perseverance rover. It is actually the rover that relays the commands to the helicopter and the onboard sensors, navigation camera, an inertial measurement unit, and a laser range finder guide Ingenuity by providing real-time data to its navigation processor and main flight computer. 

Currently, the engineers are preparing for Ingenuity's next flight, which would be its 29th in total. Recently, NASA experienced a brief hiccup as it was unable to establish contact with the Martian explorer that entered a low-power state. However, things are in control now as Ingenuity is getting adequate energy from its solar array to charge its six lithium-ion batteries. The issue of low power has proved to be a headache for NASA especially considering the InSight lander which is nearing its 'demise' due to decreasing power. Tap here to read more.