72 Helicopter Flights on Mars: See NASA Ingenuity's Flight Map | JPL

72 Helicopter Flights on Mars: See NASA Ingenuity's Flight Map | JPL

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter became the first vehicle to achieve powered, controlled flight on another planet when it took to the Martian skies on April 19, 2021. This video maps the location of the 72 flights that the helicopter took over the course of nearly three years. Ingenuity far surpassed expectations—soaring higher and faster than previously imagined. 

Designed to be a technology demonstration that would make no more than five test flights in 30 days, Ingenuity eventually flew more than 14 times farther than the distance expected, and logged more than two hours of total flight time. It flew for the final time on Jan. 18, 2024.

Name: Ingenuity

Main Job: A technology demonstration to test the first powered flight on Mars. The helicopter rode to Mars attached to the belly of the Perseverance rover.

Launch: July 30, 2020, Cape Canaveral, Florida

Landed: Feb. 18, 2021, Jezero Crater, Mars

Length of Mission: Technology demonstration complete; transitioned to new operations demo phase before its final flight in early 2024. 

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach. This includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

Mission Name: Mars 2020

Rover Name: Perseverance

Main Job: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for possible return to Earth.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: April 18, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Atmosphere #JezeroCrater #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #Robotics #IngenuityHelicopter #ThanksIngenuity #Ginny #Aircraft #SolarPowered #History #SpaceTechnology #Engineering #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video