NASA Video Shows Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Flying Over An Alien Desert

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter recently completed its 50th flight on Mars. On April 13, the tiny helicopter travelled over 1,057.09 feet (322.2 meters) in 145.7 seconds. Not just that, it also achieved a new altitude record of nearly 60 feet.

"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," said Lori Glaze, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington said in a statement.

NASA also shared footage of Ingenuity's 47th flight. The video was captured by the Mastcam-Z imager aboard NASA's Perseverance rover on March 9, 2023. At the time the video was taken, the rover was about 394 feet (120 meters) from the helicopter.

Watch the video here:

The space agency explained, "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."

It further added, "The rotorcraft landed - off camera - at Airfield 'Iota.'"

Every time Ingenuity goes airborne, it covers new ground and offers a perspective no previous planetary mission could achieve.

Ingenuity landed on the Red Planet in February 2021 attached to the belly of NASA's Mars Perseverance rover and will soon mark the two-year anniversary of its first flight, which took place on April 19, 2021.

NASA said that beyond facing more challenging terrain, Ingenuity will also fly at a greater frequency in the coming days because the helicopter needs to remain within electronic earshot of the rover.