Ingenuity helicopter
Ingenuity helicopter

The NASA helicopter Ingenuity on Mars made the first powered controlled flights by an aircraft on a planet other than Earth.[1][2] Its first flight was April 19, 2021, after landing February 18 attached to the underside of the Perseverance rover.[3] Ingenuity weighs 1.8 kilograms (4.0 lb) and is 49 cm (19 in) tall. It is powered by six lithium-ion solar-charged batteries.[4] It was built and is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a field center of NASA. It was designed for a 30-day demonstration period, but has operated far above expectations, making its 43rd flight on February 16, 2023 (UTC), 668 days after its first flight.

List of flights

Record values highlighted

Data sources:
"Flight Log". Mars Helicopter Tech Demo. NASA.
"m20 heli waypoints" NASA

# Date (UTC) Duration (sec) Altitude Distance Max Ground Speed Route[note 2] Summary
Technology Demonstration Phase
1 April 19, 2021 at 07:34
(Sol 58)
39.1 3 m (9.8 ft) 0.05 m (0.16 ft)[5] 0 m/s (0 mph) Vertical takeoff, hover, land at Wright Brothers Field (JZRO) 18°26′41″N 77°27′04″E / 18.44486°N 77.45102°E / 18.44486; 77.45102[6] The first powered flight by any aircraft on another planet. While hovering, it rotated in place 96 degrees in a planned maneuver. Flight data was received at 11:30 UTC.[7][8]
Ingenuity flight 1 full real-time animation.gif
2 April 22, 2021 at 9:33
(Sol 61)
51.9 5 m (16 ft) 4 m (13 ft) Roundtrip 0.5 m/s (1.1 mph) Hover, shift westward 2 m (6.6 ft), hover, return, hover, land within JZRO[9][10] 18°26′41″N 77°27′04″E / 18.44486°N 77.45102°E / 18.44486; 77.45102[6] From initial hover, it tilted 5 degrees, allowing rotors to fly it 2 meters sideways. It stopped, hovered in place, and rotated counterclockwise, yawing from +90° to 0° to -90° to -180°, in 3 steps, to point its color camera in various directions to take photos. It flew back to the takeoff location and landed.[11]
Ingenuity flight 2 full real-time animation.gif
3 April 25, 2021 at 11:31
(Sol 64)
80.3 5 m (16 ft) 99.97 m (328.0 ft) Roundtrip 2 m/s (4.5 mph) Hover, shift northward 49.98 m (164.0 ft), return, hover, land within JZRO[12][13] 18°26′41″N 77°27′04″E / 18.44486°N 77.45101°E / 18.44486; 77.45101[6] First flight to venture some distance from the deployment spot. It flew downrange 50 meters at two meters per second, stopped, hovered, then returned and landed at the departure spot.[14] Data from the flight was received at 14:16 UTC.[13]
Ingenuity flight 3 real-time animation (24 frames).gif
Transition Phase
4 April 29, 2021 (Sol 68)[15] First attempt of flight 4 failed; onboard software did not transition to flight mode.[16][17][18]
April 30, 2021 at 14:49[19]
(Sol 69)
116.9 5 m (16 ft) 270.46 m (887.3 ft) Roundtrip 3.5 m/s (7.8 mph) Hover, shift southward 135.23 m (443.7 ft), hover, return, hover, land within JZRO[20] 18°26′41″N 77°27′04″E / 18.44486°N 77.45112°E / 18.44486; 77.45112[6] Took color images while hovering at its farthest point from takeoff.[19] The Perseverance rover recorded both audio and video of Ingenuity in flight,[21] making the helicopter the first interplanetary vehicle whose sound was recorded off Earth.
Ingenuity flight 4 real-time animation.gif
5 May 7, 2021 at 19:26[22]
(Sol 76)
108.2 10 m (33 ft) 130.84 m (429.3 ft) 2 m/s (4.5 mph) Hover, shift southwards 130.84 m (429.3 ft), climb to 10 m (33 ft), hover, land at Airfield B 18°26′34″N 77°27′05″E / 18.44267°N 77.45139°E / 18.44267; 77.45139[6] This was the first flight to land at a new location, 129 m (423 ft) to the south. Arriving above the destination, it gained altitude, hovered, captured color terrain images, then landed at the new site, Airfield B.[23][24] This flight was the last in the technology demonstration phase.
Ingenuity flight 5 real-time animation.gif
Operation Demonstration Phase
6 May 23, 2021 at 5:20[25]
(Sol 91)
139.9 10 m (33 ft) 202.39 m (664.0 ft) with direction changes) 4 m/s (8.9 mph) Shift southwest about 140.9 m (462 ft), southward about 14.1 m (46 ft), northeast about 46.8 m (154 ft), land at Airfield C 18°26′30″N 77°27′00″E / 18.44166°N 77.44994°E / 18.44166; 77.44994[6] At each turn into the flight, colour images were taken. Near the end of the first leg of the route at 54 seconds into flight, a glitch occurred in the navigation images processing system. An image was dropped, and subsequent images with incorrect timestamps resulted in the craft tilting forward and backward up to 20 degrees, with large spikes in power consumption. It flew in that mode until successfully landing about 5 m (16 ft) away from the planned spot, after turning off navigation camera and flying on IMU.[25][26] This was the first time the helicopter had to land at an airfield which was not surveyed by any means other than MRO satellite imagery.[27][28]
Ingenuity flight 6 real-time animation (39 seconds).gif
7 June 6, 2021[17] (Sol 105) First attempt of flight 7 failed; onboard software did not transition to flight mode.[17]
June 8, 2021 at 15:54
(Sol 107)
62.8[29] 10 m (33 ft)[30] 106.34 m (348.9 ft) 4 m/s (8.9 mph) Shift southward 106.3 m (349 ft) to land at Airfield D 18°26′24″N 77°27′01″E / 18.43988°N 77.45015°E / 18.43988; 77.45015[6] Flew to a new landing spot, Airfield D. The color camera was not used to prevent the glitch of flight 6 happening again.[31][32]
Ingenuity flight 7 real-time animation (48 seconds).gif
8 June 22, 2021 at 0:27[33]
(Sol 120)
77.4 10 m (33 ft) 160.48 m (526.5 ft) 4 m/s (8.9 mph) Shift south south-east 160.48 m (526.5 ft) to land at Airfield E[17] 18°26′14″N 77°27′03″E / 18.43724°N 77.45079°E / 18.43724; 77.45079[6] The landing spot was about 133.5 m (438 ft) away from the Perseverance rover. As in the previous flight, the color camera was switched off, pending a software update.[17]
Ingenuity flight 8 full real-time animation.gif
9 July 5, 2021 at 9:03[30]
(Sol 133)
166.4 10 m (33 ft) 631.78 m (2,072.8 ft) 5 m/s (11 mph) Shift southwest 631.79 m (2,070 ft) to Airfield F 18°25′41″N 77°26′44″E / 18.42809°N 77.44545°E / 18.42809; 77.44545[6] Flew southwest, over Séítah, a prospective research location in Jezero crater. This flight strained the navigation system, which by design assumes flat ground; Séítah has uneven sand dunes. Controllers had Ingenuity partly compensate by flying slower over the more challenging part of the route. Landing occurred 47 m (154 ft) from the center of the 50 m (160 ft) planned ellipse.[34][5][35][36]
Ingenuity flight 9 full real-time animation.gif
10 July 24, 2021 at 21:07[37]

(Sol 152)

165.4[38] 12 m (39 ft)[37] 240.37 m (788.6 ft)[30] 5 m/s (11 mph) Loop south and west over prospective research location Raised Ridges to Airfield G 18°25′41″N 77°26′37″E / 18.42808°N 77.44373°E / 18.42808; 77.44373[6] The helicopter flew past 10 waypoints, including takeoff and landing.[39] The general trajectory of the 10th flight was four chords of a broken oval, thus distance between the takeoff and landing points of about 95 meters.[40]
Ingenuity flight 10 full real-time animation.gif
# Date (UTC) Duration (sec) Altitude Distance Max Ground Speed Route[note 2] Summary
11 August 5, 2021 at 4:53[41]
(Sol 163)
130.9 12 m (39 ft) 388.29 m (1,273.9 ft) 5 m/s (11 mph) Shift northwest 388.29 m (1,273.9 ft) to land at Airfield H 18°25′58″N 77°26′21″E / 18.43278°N 77.43919°E / 18.43278; 77.43919[6] The flight positioned the craft for a route to take photographs of South Séítah.[41][42] The airfield " H " was the second after "Wright Brothers Field" in terms of the number of departures, and in terms of the total length (1069 m) and duration of these flights (481.8 s), as well as the parking time of the helicopter (3 months, from August 5 to November 6) airfield " H " even outstripped the cradle of Martian aeronautics.
Ingenuity flight 11 full real-time animation.gif
12 August 16, 2021 at 12:57[43]
(Sol 174)
169.5
10 m (33 ft) 448.21 m (1,470.5 ft) Roundtrip 4.3 m/s (9.6 mph) Takeoff and return, land within Airfield H 18°25′58″N 77°26′21″E / 18.43268°N 77.43924°E / 18.43268; 77.43924[6] The return path was about 5 m (16 ft) to the side to allow another attempt to take paired images for stereo imagery. Landing was about 25 m (82 ft) east from the takeoff point.[44] This filght was decisive for the subsequent fate of the helicopter, which then got its mission extended after August.[45] It also gave images that appeared uninteresting to the rover team, forbading to enter that region.[46]
Ingenuity flight 12 full real-time animation.gif
13 September 5, 2021 at 0:10[47]
(Sol 193)
160.5 8 m (26 ft) 209.4 m (687 ft) Roundtrip 3.3 m/s (7.4 mph) Takeoff and return, land within Airfield H 18°25′58″N 77°26′21″E / 18.43285°N 77.43915°E / 18.43285; 77.43915[6] The flight northeast and back concentrated on one particular ridgeline and outcrops in South Séítah.
Ingenuity flight 13 full real-time animation.gif
14 September 18, 2021 (Sol 206) A flight attempt at a faster rotor spin rate of 2700 rpm was automatically canceled due to a servo motor anomaly.[48] Three days earlier, September 15, Ingenuity successfully ground tested a rotor spin rate of 2800 rpm.[49] Servo motor "wiggle" tests were done on September 21 and 23 to diagnose the problem that prevented flight.[48][50] More ground tests and another flight attempt were postponed until after solar conjunction. Then, on October 21, NASA/JPL reported a successful 50 rpm ground test.[51] Ingenuity made its 14th flight three days later.
October 24, 2021 at 8:18
(Sol 241)[30]
23.0 5 m (16 ft) 2.18 m (7.2 ft) 0.5 m/s (1.1 mph) Dogleg eastwards 2.18 m (7.2 ft), land within Airfield H[48] 18°25′58″N 77°26′21″E / 18.43284°N 77.43920°E / 18.43284; 77.43920[6] The brief flight verified use of the faster rotor spin of 2700 rpm, needed during seasonal lower atmospheric density on Mars.[52][53]
Ingenuity flight 14 full real-time animation.gif
15 November 6, 2021 at 16:22

(Sol 254)

128.8 12 m (39 ft) 410.27 m (1,346.0 ft) 5 m/s (11 mph) Shift southeast 411.3 m (1,349 ft) to land at Airfield F 18°25′43″N 77°26′42″E / 18.42871°N 77.44501°E / 18.42871; 77.44501[6] First in a series of four to seven flights on a return journey to Wright Brothers Field, due to the low atmospheric pressure and varied relief features. This leg ended in the Raised Ridges region.[54][55]
Ingenuity flight 15 real-time animation (191 frames).gif
16 November 21, 2021 at 2:09[56]

(Sol 268)

107.9 10 m (33 ft) 116.99 m (383.8 ft) 1.5 m/s (3.4 mph) Shift northeast 116.99 m (383.8 ft) to land at Airfield J 18°25′48″N 77°26′47″E / 18.43013°N 77.44645°E / 18.43013; 77.44645[6] Landed near the edge of South Séítah, prior to crossing that area on multiple impending flights.
Ingenuity flight 16 full real-time animation.gif
17 December 5, 2021 at 12:25
(Sol 282)
116.8 10 m (33 ft) 187.36 m (614.7 ft) 2.5 m/s (5.6 mph) Shift northeast 187.7 m (616 ft) to land at Airfield K 18°25′59″N 77°26′52″E / 18.43306°N 77.44771°E / 18.43306; 77.44771 Flew halfway across South Séítah along the heading of flight 9 but in the reverse direction.[57] The helicopter lost communication with the rover during final descent, roughly 3 m (10 ft) above the grounddue to 5-meter Bras outcrop ib between, but JPL believed the flight was a success, based on available telemetry.[58] On Sol 285, Ingenuity relayed more information which suggested the helicopter was upright, based on the solar arrays charging the batteries, which could not be done if the helicopter fell sideways. JPL said local terrain and Perseverance positioning probably interrupted communication.[59]
Ingenuity flight 17 full real-time animation.gif
18 December 15, 2021 at 17:27[60][61]
(Sol 292)
124.3 10 m (33 ft) 231.56 m (759.7 ft) 2.5 m/s (5.6 mph) Shift northeast 231.8 m (760 ft) to land near the northern edge of South Séítah at Airfield L18°26′10″N 77°27′00″E / 18.43623°N 77.45011°E / 18.43623; 77.45011 Flew across South Séítah in the reverse of the flight 9 heading and landed near flight 9 takeoff spot. This was another in a series of flights returning Ingenuity to Wright Brothers Field. Airfield L has featureless sandy terrain, chosen for the lack of rocks for safe landing. The area is actually so devoid of rock that the helicopter sent warnings due to insufficient features for the vision navigation to track. JPL planned to update software fault protection parameters to reduce the risk of a premature landing on Flight 19.
Ingenuity flight 18 full real-time animation.gif
19

Originally planned for January 5, 2022 (Sol 312); rescheduled for January 23 (Sol 330); flown on February 8, 2022 (Sol 345).

The first attempt of flight 19 was postponed due to a dust storm approaching Jezero Crater, the first time weather delayed a flight of an airborne vehicle on a celestial object other than Earth.[62] The storm reduced sunlight by 18 percent on Ingenuity's solar array, which charges its batteries, and warm dust lowered the surrounding air density by seven percent, which could have exceeded Ingenuity's ability to generate adequate lift. JPL waited over a month for the air to clear and the helicopter to regain its pre-storm power generating ability.[62][63] The storm deposited dust on the navigation camera window. To prevent navigation errors, JPL uploaded a new image mask file in late January that ignores certain regions of the image. Dust and sand also accumulated in all the swashplate assemblies. Repeated actuator self-tests and servo-wiggles cleared the debris.
February 8, 2022 at 04:21[64][63]
(Sol 345)
99.8 10 m (33 ft) 61.19 m (200.8 ft) 1 m/s (2.2 mph) Shift northeast 61.6 m (202 ft) to land just above the eastern ridge of South Séítah at Airfield E 18°26′13″N 77°27′03″E / 18.43700°N 77.45080°E / 18.43700; 77.45080 The helicopter flew out of South Séítah basin, across a dividing ridge and up to the main plateau, near the landing site of Flight 8. Images taken during Flight 9 were used to select a safe zone. The flight was another in a series to return to Wright Brothers Field. This gradual approach is due to lack of large landing sites in the area and lower atmospheric density in the summer, which requires higher rotor speeds and more power. The flight plan called for the helicopter to turn nearly 180 degrees before landing to aim its color camera toward the river delta for future flights.
Ingenuity flight 19 full real-time animation.gif
20 February 25, 2022 at 13:35[65][66]
(Sol 362)
130.3 10 m (33 ft) 392.27 m (1,287.0 ft) 4.4 m/s (9.8 mph) Shift northwest 392.27 m (1,287.0 ft) flying across Séítah to land at Airfield M 18°26′36″N 77°26′55″E / 18.44337°N 77.44859°E / 18.44337; 77.44859 Ingenuity continued its journey back toward its original flight zone, landing just southwest of Wright Brothers Field. From there, it will take a shortcut to the Jezero Crater river delta, flying northwest across Séítah, while Perseverance drives around the region to the "Three Forks" a at the foot of the slopes, on the tops of which three dry channels (sleeves) of the Neretva flow.[67] The latest auto-navigation system allows Perseverance to break away from Ingenuity in a few sols, and therefore the helicopter had to go on a campaign first and in advance.[68]
Ingenuity flight 20 full real-time animation.gif
# Date (UTC) Duration (sec) Altitude Distance Max Ground Speed Route[note 2] Summary
21 March 10, 2022 at 22:10[69][70]
(Sol 375)
129.2 10 m (33 ft) 374.4 m (1,228 ft) 3.85 m/s (8.6 mph) Shift northwest flying across Seìtah to land at Airfield N 18°26′43″N 77°26′32″E / 18.44514°N 77.44219°E / 18.44514; 77.44219 First in a series of flights to a position near the base of the ancient river delta in Jezero Crater to scout ahead for Perseverance.[note 1]
Ingenuity flight 21 full real-time animation.gif
22 March 20, 2022 at 4:06[71]

(Sol 384)

101.4 10 m (33 ft) 70.4 m (231 ft) 1 m/s (2.2 mph) Shift northeast flying across northwest Seìtah to land again within Airfield N 18°26′46″N 77°26′35″E / 18.44610°N 77.44292°E / 18.44610; 77.44292 Second flight toward position near base of the delta. Ingenuity flew only 70.4 m (231 ft), not the planned ~350 m (1,150 ft).[note 1]
Ingenuity flight 22 full real-time animation.gif
23 March 24, 2022 at 6:44 [72]
(Sol 388)
129.1 10 m (33 ft) 374.886 m (1,229.94 ft) 4 m/s (8.9 mph) Shift northeast and then northwest flying across Seìtah to land at Airfield P 18°26′42″N 77°26′36″E / 18.44508°N 77.44345°E / 18.44508; 77.44345 Another flight on the way to a position near the base of the delta. The flight was complex, including a sharp turn to avoid a large hill. In deciding the remaining route to the delta, the mission team considered multiple factors: thermal (temperature of helicopter parts), atmospheric, flight time, navigation drift, landing site terrain, and keeping up with the rover.[note 1][73]
Ingenuity flight 23 full real-time animation.gif
24 April 3, 2022 at 12:49[73][5]
(Sol 398)
69.8 10 m (33 ft) 47.54 m (156.0 ft) 1.45 m/s (3.2 mph) Shift northwest flying across Seìtah to land within Airfield P 18°26′42″N 77°26′33″E / 18.44508°N 77.44246°E / 18.44508; 77.44246 Fourth of five sorties crossing the Séítah region. Rotors spun at 2,537 rpm, a reduction from 2,700 rpm used since flight 14; this was a return to the slower rate of the earliest flights. Increasing air density allowed the reduction, as the thin air of the ending Martian summer was being replaced by fall's denser air. The short flight positioned Ingenuity for a long flight to approach its destination near the delta.[note 1][73] The date of flight 24 marked one year since Ingenuity's deployment to the surface from Perseverance.
Ingenuity flight 24 full real-time animation.gif
25 April 8, 2022 at 16:40[74]
(Sol 403)
161.3 10 m (33 ft)
708.91 m (2,325.8 ft)
5.50 m/s (12.3 mph)
Shift northwest flying over Seìtah, land at staging area Airfield Q 18°27′17″N 77°25′50″E / 18.45477°N 77.43058°E / 18.45477; 77.43058 Longest distance and highest speed of any flight so far. The mission team chose a route that avoided flying over hardware that was discarded and fell to the surface during the rover's entry-descent-landing (EDL) and might have caused unexpected performance from Ingenuity's laser altimeter and visual navigation system. This flight brought the helicopter out of the Séítah region.[73]
Ingenuity flight 25 full real-time animation.gif
26 April 19, 2022[75][76] at 1:32[77]
(Sol 414)
159.0 8 m (26 ft) 391.18 m (1,283.4 ft) 3.80 m/s (8.5 mph) Shift southeast, southwest, and then northwest to land at Airfield R 18°27′06″N 77°25′50″E / 18.45163°N 77.43046°E / 18.45163; 77.43046 Ingenuity flew closer to the delta and took color photos of the EDL debris, including the spacecraft backshell and parachute.[76]
Ingenuity flight 26 full real-time animation.gif
27 April 23, 2022 at 4:11[78][6]
(Sol 418)
153.9 10 m (33 ft) 304.96 m (1,000.5 ft) 3 m/s (6.7 mph) Shift slightly southeast, then southwest, and then northwest to land at Airfield S 18°27′09″N 77°25′35″E / 18.45252°N 77.42636°E / 18.45252; 77.42636 Ingenuity flew closer to the delta capturing the images of crater ridgeline.
Ingenuity flight 27 full real-time animation.gif
28 April 29, 2022 at 7:44[79][6]
(Sol 423)
152.9 10 m (33 ft) 420.94 m (1,381.0 ft) 3.6 m/s (8.1 mph) Shift northwest to land at Airfield T 18°27′26″N 77°25′14″E / 18.45714°N 77.42068°E / 18.45714; 77.42068 Ingenuity flew closer to the delta. This flight was the fifth in April - there has not been such an intensity of flights since the demonstration program, when 4 flights were made in April 2021.
Ingenuity flight 28 full real-time animation.gif
29 May 26, 2022 (Sol 450) High-speed spin test of the rotor blades.[80][81]
June 11, 2022 at 15:06[82][30]
(Sol 465)
66.6 10 m (33 ft) 181.96 m (597.0 ft) 5.50 m/s (12.3 mph) Shift southwest to land at Airfield U 18°27′21″N 77°25′04″E / 18.45597°N 77.41768°E / 18.45597; 77.41768 First flight without the use of its inclinometer and in the cold of Martian winter.[81]
Ingenuity flight 29 full real-time animation.gif
30 August 6, 2022 (Sol 520) and August 15, 2022 (Sol 528)[83] One low-speed spin test of 50 rpm and one high-speed spin test of 2,573 rpm of the rotor blades to take a health check of the helicopter after it endured sandstorms and temperatures as low as −124 °F (−87 °C) during the Martian winter.
August 20, 2022 at 12:38[84][85]

(Sol 533)

33.3 5 m (16 ft) 2.35 m (7.7 ft) 0.5 m/s (1.1 mph) Dogleg sideways and land within Airfield U 18°27′22″N 77°25′04″E / 18.455973°N 77.41764°E / 18.455973; 77.41764 First flight after the dust season and first in more than two months. Intended to measure how accurately Ingenuity can still fly to a specified target after a long period of inactivity.
Ingenuity flight 30 full real-time animation.gif
# Date (UTC) Duration (sec) Altitude Distance Max Ground Speed Route[note 2] Summary
31 September 6, 2022 at 23:31[86] (Sol 550) 55.6 10 m (33 ft) 97.2 m (319 ft) 4.75 m/s (10.6 mph) Shift westwards and land at Airfield V 18°27′21″N 77°24′57″E / 18.455821°N 77.415911°E / 18.455821; 77.415911 Reposition helicopter.
Ingenuity flight 31 full real-time animation.gif
32 September 18, 2022 at 6:46

(Sol 561)[30]

55.3 10 m (33 ft) 94.36 m (309.6 ft) 4.75 m/s (10.6 mph) Shift northwestwards and land at Airfield W 18°27′21″N 77°24′51″E / 18.455924°N 77.414237°E / 18.455924; 77.414237 Continue west near edge of delta
Ingenuity flight 32 full real-time animation.gif
33 September 24, 2022 at 11:15

(Sol 567)[30]

55.6 10 m (33 ft) 112.28 m (368.4 ft) 4.75 m/s (10.6 mph) Shift westwards and land at Airfield X 18°27′20″N 77°24′44″E / 18.455623°N 77.412265°E / 18.455623; 77.412265 Reposition the helicopter. A small piece of foreign object debris (FOD) was seen clinging to the bottom right leg of the helicopter in footage from the navigation camera (Navcam) for a portion of this flight. It was not visible in Navcam footage from the previous flight. The debris is from the earliest frames to approximately halfway through the video, when it fell from the leg and drifted back to the Mars surface. All telemetry from the flight and a post-flight search were normal and showed no indication of vehicle damage. JPL tried to find the source of the debris.[87]
Ingenuity flight 33 full real-time animation.gif
34 November 23, 2022 at 01:25

(Sol 625)

18.3 5 m (16 ft) 0.12 m (0.39 ft) 0 m/s (0 mph) Hover and land again at Airfield X 18°27′20″N 77°24′44″E / 18.455623°N 77.412265°E / 18.455623; 77.412265 A test of its fourth software update, with advanced navigation capabilities allowing it to safely fly up the steep terrain of the Jezero river delta, scouting ahead of the Perseverance rover.[88]
Ingenuity flight 34 full real-time animation.gif
35 December 3, 2022 at 08:26

(Sol 635)

52.22
14 m (46 ft)
15.05 m (49.4 ft) 3 m/s (6.7 mph) Hover and land within Airfield X 18°27′21″N 77°24′44″E / 18.455814°N 77.412090°E / 18.455814; 77.412090 Reposition helicopter.
Ingenuity flight 35 full real-time animation.gif
36 December 10, 2022 at 12:57

(Sol 642)

60.52 10 m (33 ft) 110.32 m (361.9 ft)
Roundtrip
5.5 m/s (12 mph) Shift north-westward 55 m (180 ft), return, land again at Airfield X 18°27′21″N 77°24′44″E / 18.455806°N 77.412087°E / 18.455806; 77.412087 Reposition helicopter.
Ingenuity flight 36 full real-time animation.gif
37 December 17, 2022 at 17:34

(Sol 649)

55.2 10 m (33 ft) 62 m (203 ft) 3 m/s (6.7 mph) Shift northwest to land at Airfield Y 18°27′23″N 77°24′41″E / 18.456524°N 77.411518°E / 18.456524; 77.411518 Reposition helicopter.
Ingenuity flight 37 full real-time animation.gif
38 December 24, 2022 (Sol 656) First attempt of flight 38 was aborted; either due to onboard software, not transitioning to flight mode due to a short, but severe dust storm, approaching the helicopter.[89]
January 5, 2023 at 05:28

(Sol 667)

74.26 10 m (33 ft) 101.62 m (333.4 ft) 3.5 m/s (7.8 mph) Shift northwest to land at Airfield Z 18°27′26″N 77°24′36″E / 18.457278°N 77.409895°E / 18.457278; 77.409895 Reposition helicopter. It landed in between the sand dunes as seen by Perseverance.
Ingenuity flight 38 full real-time animation.gif
39 January 11, 2023 at 10:05

(Sol 673)

78.7 10 m (33 ft) 143.76 m (471.7 ft)
Roundtrip
4 m/s (8.9 mph) Shift northeast ~70 m (230 ft) and return to land again at Airfield Z 18°27′26″N 77°24′36″E / 18.457253°N 77.409888°E / 18.457253; 77.409888 Test new flight software.
Ingenuity flight 39 full real-time animation.gif
40 January 19, 2023 at 15:03

(Sol 681)

91.6 10 m (33 ft) 177.49 m (582.3 ft)
3.20 m/s (7.2 mph) Shift northwest to Airfield Beta (β) 18°27′31″N 77°24′26″E / 18.458697°N 77.407122°E / 18.458697; 77.407122 Reposition helicopter.
Ingenuity flight 40 full real-time animation.gif
# Date (UTC) Duration (sec) Altitude Distance Max Ground Speed Route[note 2] Summary
41 January 27, 2023 at 19:27

(Sol 689)

109.1 10 m (33 ft) 181.35 m (595.0 ft)
Roundtrip
3 m/s (6.7 mph) Shift Northwest ~91 m (299 ft) and return to land again within Airfield Beta (β)

18°27′32″N 77°24′26″E / 18.459015°N 77.407090°E / 18.459015; 77.407090

Scouting for Perseverance.
42 February 5, 2023 at 00:52

(Sol 697)

137.2 10 m (33 ft) 255.47 m (838.2 ft)
3 m/s (6.7 mph) Shift Northwest and land at Airfield Gamma (γ) 18°27′42″N 77°24′14″E / 18.461712°N 77.403799°E / 18.461712; 77.403799 Reposition helicopter.
43 February 11, 2023

(Sol 708)

146 12 m (39 ft) 390 m (1,280 ft)
4 m/s (8.9 mph) Shift Northwest and land at Airfield Epsilon (ε) Lat Long currently not published Reposition helicopter.

Flight totals

Number of flights Distance flown Time flown Sols since detached from rover
on mission Sol 43, April 3, 2021
43 8.829 km (5.486 mi) 4344 sec (1:12:24) 666
Sources: [30][5]

Flight records

Duration Altitude Distance Max Ground Speed
169.5 sec 14 m (46 ft) 708.91 m (2,325.8 ft) 5.50 m/s (12.3 mph)
Flight 12 35 25 25

Flight path

Flight path of Ingenuity through flight #42
Flight path of Ingenuity through flight #42

See also

Notes

  1. ^
    Throughout March, the rate of increase in atmospheric pressure was small (not faster than 1 Pa per 1 sol), and it turned out to be impossible to restore the normal operation of the engine (160-170 seconds of flight at 2500 rpm). In order to take advantage of the higher pressure factor before sunrise, on the 21st-23rd flight, the time for ingenuity to power up were moved from 12:00 to 10:00, and on the 24th to 9:30 am local time. The route of this series of flights again demanded to go to higher elevations with each flight, which further shortened their length. A new challenge for both devices was reaching the marked limits of their communication equipment (1 km - in this part the norm was exceeded by 1.3 times). All these features were taken into account in the flight plan for this series, published on March 15.[90]
  2. ^
    Airfield are named using letters and words English Alphabet and Greek Alphabet. This excludes the honary first airfield termed as Wright Brothers Field (JZRO).

References

Citations

  1. ^ AFP Staff Writers (Apr 19, 2021). "Ingenuity helicopter successfully flew on Mars: NASA". Mars Daily. ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  2. ^ Palca, Joe (19 April 2021). "Success! NASA's Ingenuity Makes First Powered Flight On Mars". National Public Radio. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  3. ^ Clarke, Stephen (14 May 2018). "Helicopter to accompany NASA's next Mars rover to Red Planet". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  4. ^ "Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Landing Press Kit" (PDF). NASA. January 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d "m20_heli_waypoints". mars.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r mars.nasa.gov. "Location Map for Perseverance Rover". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
  7. ^ Palca, Joe (April 19, 2021). "Success! NASA's Ingenuity Makes 1st Powered Flight On Mars". NPR. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
  8. ^ Witze, Alexandra (April 19, 2021). "Lift off! First flight on Mars launches new way to explore worlds". Nature. 592 (7856): 668–669. Bibcode:2021Natur.592..668W. doi:10.1038/d41586-021-00909-z. PMID 33875875. S2CID 233308286. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  9. ^ "Mars helicopter's first flight could happen on Monday". CNN. 17 April 2021. Ingenuity could fly four days after the first flight, then three days after the second flight and so on.
  10. ^ Status 294.
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  12. ^ Status 295.
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  14. ^ Chang, Kenneth (25 April 2021). "'Nothing Short of Amazing': NASA Mars Helicopter Makes Longest Flight Yet - Ingenuity made a 328-foot round-trip journey, helping to demonstrate the capability of the vehicle's navigation system". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
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  17. ^ a b c d e Status 308.
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  19. ^ a b Status 297.
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  21. ^ "NASA's Perseverance Captures Video, Audio of Fourth Ingenuity Flight". NASA. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
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  25. ^ a b Status 305.
  26. ^ Kooser, Amanda (May 27, 2021). "NASA Mars Ingenuity helicopter survives 'in-flight anomaly' on sixth flight". Cnet. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  27. ^ May 2021 (27 May 2021). "Mars helicopter Ingenuity experiences anomaly on 6th flight, but lands safely". Space.com. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  28. ^ Strickland, Ashley (May 28, 2021). "Mars helicopter survives to tell the tale of stressful flight". CNN. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  29. ^ @NASAJPL (8 June 2021). "Another successful flight 👏#MarsHelicopter completed its 7th flight and second within its operations demo phase. I…" (Tweet). Retrieved 2021-06-09 – via Twitter.
  30. ^ a b c d e f g h "Flight Log". Mars Helicopter Tech Demo. NASA. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  31. ^ Status 306.
  32. ^ Wall, Mike (9 June 2021). "Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces 7th flight on the Red Planet". Space.com. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  33. ^ @NASAJPL (22 June 2021). "Another successful flight for Ingenuity! The#MarsHelicopter completed its 8th flight on Monday. It flew for 77.4 s…" (Tweet). Retrieved 2021-06-22 – via Twitter.
  34. ^ Status 313.
  35. ^ @nasajpl (July 5, 2021). "MarsHelicopter pushes its Red Planet limits" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  36. ^ Status 314.
  37. ^ a b Status 316.
  38. ^ Malik, Tariq (26 July 2021). "NASA's Mars helicopter soars past 1-mile mark in 10th flight over Red Planet". Space.com.
  39. ^ Bendix, Aria (July 24, 2021). "NASA's Mars helicopter nailed its 10th flight — double what engineers had hoped Ingenuity would do". Business Insider. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  40. ^ mars.nasa.gov. "Aerial Scouting of 'Raised Ridges' for Ingenuity's Flight 10". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
  41. ^ a b Status 318.
  42. ^ @NASAJPL (5 August 2021). "#MarsHelicopter has safely flown to a new location! Ingenuity flew for 130.9 seconds and traveled about 380 meters…" (Tweet). Retrieved 2021-08-05 – via Twitter.
  43. ^ Status 321.
  44. ^ @JPL (August 17, 2021). "A dozen for the books!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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  47. ^ Status 329.
  48. ^ a b c Status 334.
  49. ^ "rotor spin test at 2,800 rpm. Next up – flight 14". Twitter.
  50. ^ Status 336.
  51. ^ @NASAJPL (October 22, 2021). "Now that conjunction is over" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  52. ^ @NASAJPL (October 25, 2021). "Flight 14 completed" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  53. ^ Status 341.
  54. ^ Status 343.
  55. ^ @NASAJPL (November 8, 2021). "The #MarsHelicopter successfully completed its 15th flight" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  56. ^ Status 346.
  57. ^ Status 349.
  58. ^ mars.nasa.gov. "Flight 17 – Discovering Limits". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
  59. ^ Status 350.
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  63. ^ a b Wall, Mike (8 February 2022). "Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces 19th flight after historic Red Planet weather delay". Space.com. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  64. ^ Cacan, Martin (January 4, 2022). "Flight 19 - New Year, Same Ingenuity". Mars Helicopter Tech Demo. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  65. ^ mars.nasa.gov. "Dusty Flight 19 Completed and Looking Ahead to Flight 20". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2022-02-25.
  66. ^ @NASAJPL (26 February 2022). "Flight 20 was a success!" (Tweet). Retrieved 2022-02-27 – via Twitter.
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  89. ^ mars.nasa.gov. "Perseverance's Four-Legged Companion is Ready - NASA". mars.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  90. ^ mars.nasa.gov. "Ingenuity Flights to the Delta". NASA Mars Exploration. Retrieved 2022-09-07.

Status reports