NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter captures video of record flight

A recent flight in which the helicopter flew farther and faster than ever before was captured by imagery from Mars.

The record-breaking 25th flight of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was filmed by the black-and-white navigation camera. It was the longest and fastest flight to date, covering a distance of 2,310 feet. Ingenuity is preparing for its 29th flight.

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.

The first frame of the video is about a minute into the flight. The helicopter heads southwest after reaching an altitude of 10 meters. About halfway through the video, the helicopter flies over a group of sand ripples. A good landing spot can be found below, which is flat and featureless. The video was reduced to less than 35 seconds after being sped up five times.

Whenever the helicopter is within 3 feet of the surface, the navigation camera will be turned off. The navigation system tracks features on the ground, so it helps to make sure that any dust kicked up during takeoff and landing won't interfere with it.

The pilots at JPL plan the flights and send commands to the helicopter. During a helicopter flight, onboard sensors give real-time data to the main flight computer and navigation processor. Ingenuity can react to the landscape while carrying out its commands.

After the helicopter entered a low-power state, mission controllers lost communication with Ingenuity. The team is looking forward to its next flight on Mars, as the team is getting adequate energy from its solar array to charge its batteries.

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