NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter made history when it became the first craft to complete a powered, guided flight on Mars. And that wasn’t the end of Ingenuity’s impressive feats.
Within a week of its first flight, Ingenuity took to the sky two more times, and it’s getting better at it.
Here’s Ingenuity’s historic first flight. (We’re sure it looked better in person.)
For its second flight, Ingenuity went up to 16 feet — compared to the first flight’s 10 feet — and turned slightly.
Ingenuity completed its third flight on April 25. NASA says it was the fastest and farthest the helicopter has even flown — including in tests on Earth.
Ingenuity flew 164 feet across the Martian surface and back to its starting point, reaching a top speed of 6.6 feet per second.
Here’s the full third flight, as seen by the Perseverance rover.
One more time, with a closer look at Ingenuity’s takeoff.
Back on Earth, NASA celebrated Ingenuity’s success.
With three historic flights logged, NASA is already planning for flight number four.
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