NASA's Ingenuity helicopter completes 15th flight on Mars in two-min long mission

NASA's Martian helicopter 'Ingenuity' completed its 15th flight on the red planet, revealed NASA via a Twitter post on Tuesday, November 9. The mini rotorcraft had travelled to Mars with the next generation Perseverance rover that touched down the alien planet in February this year. Currently studying the Jezero crater's South Séítah, Ingenuity ascended to begin its return journey to the Wright Brothers Field at the Octavia E. Butler landing site where it took its first Martian flight ever. 

Detailing about this new feat, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) that handles the helicopter from Southern California revealed that Ingenuity's flight lasted 128.8 seconds and the images it took while in the air will be processed soon. "The #MarsHelicopter successfully completed its 15th flight on Mars. It flew for 128.8 seconds. Preliminary localization places us within our targeted landing zone. Ingenuity opportunistically took images of science interest and they'll be processed soon', wrote JPL in a tweet.

In an official blog published before the flight, JPL's Teddy Tzanetos had written that Ingenuity will traverse 1,332 feet (406 meters) during 130 seconds of flight and will travel at 11.1 mph (5 mps) of groundspeed. According to Tzanetos, it would take Ingenuity around four to seven flights to return to Wright Brothers Field, as it currently examining the South Séítah region in the Jezero crater. 

This was the helicopter's second flight after the solar conjunction, as the air density is low on Mars during summer. For the successful completion of the flight, the rotor blades of the aircraft were spun at 2,700 revolutions per minute (RPM) to generate high performance, as per the blog. Scientists have been able to reconnect with the robots on Mars after the solar conjunction, when the sun comes in between the orbit of Mars and the Earth, ended after two weeks. 

The Mars Helicopter is a technology demonstration that has been sent to test powered, controlled flight on another world for the first time. It was on April 19, 2021, that the helicopter took off, climbed to about 10 feet (3 meters) above the ground, hovered in the air briefly and then landed. NASA says that Ingenuity, through its demonstrations, will help explore how future rovers and aerial explorers can work together. 

Image: Twitter/@NASAJPL