NASA says its Mars helicopter is ready for a historic first flight

[helicon]

Hope the data assessment goes well!

[smp]

Thanks very much for that tweet, Graeme! I hadn't yet seen this news.

Here's hoping that any issues will be resolvable!

smp

[smp]

From Space.com:
"Mars helicopter Ingenuity goes faster and farther than ever on 4th flight"

https://www.space.com/mars-helicopter-i ... ht-success

smp

[helicon]

From Space.com:
"Mars helicopter Ingenuity goes faster and farther than ever on 4th flight"

https://www.space.com/mars-helicopter-i ... ht-success

smp

Good news Stephen!

[smp]

From CNN:
"After fourth successful flight, Mars helicopter gets a new mission"

"(CNN) - After four successful flights on Mars, the Ingenuity helicopter is graduating to a new phase of its mission and will fly for at least another month on the red planet.
The little 4-pound chopper has achieved all of its objectives -- and now it will chase after new ones. This also means the Perseverance rover and its aerial sidekick get to spend more time together working on a joint mission."

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/30/world/ma ... index.html

smp

[smp]

From Space.com:
"NASA extends Mars helicopter Ingenuity's high-flying mission on Red Planet"

"NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity will keep flying for an additional 30 days (at least), on an extended mission that will test the chopper's ability to be a "scout," the agency announced today (April 30). "

https://www.space.com/nasa-mars-helicop ... n-extended

smp

[bearnard00]

Ingenuity completed its third flight. New image. Ingenuity exprimental helicopter conducting third flight. Reaching much higher than before, I reckon about 10 metres. Also a vastly longer horizontal flight. The take off point was out of the frame to the left. Ingenuitity can be seen in front of the Jezero Crater delta whilst flying. Second image shows Ingenuity landed in a new lovation with the Neretva Vallis (former river valley that flowed into Jezero Crater about 3.5 billion years ago) and Jezero Crater delta in the background. Ingenuity flew for 50 metres.

[Graeme1858]

5th flight today is a first one way flight.

https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helico ... different/

Regards

Graeme

[bearnard00]

Ingenuity completed its third flight. New image. Ingenuity exprimental helicopter conducting third flight. Reaching much higher than before, I reckon about 10 metres. Also a vastly longer horizontal flight. The take off point was out of the frame to the left. Ingenuitity can be seen in front of the Jezero Crater delta whilst flying. Second image shows Ingenuity landed in a new lovation with the Neretva Vallis (former river valley that flowed into Jezero Crater about 3.5 billion years ago) and Jezero Crater delta in the background. Ingenuity flew for 50 metres.

[smp]

I'm a little late, but here's an article on the 5th flight from CNN:
"Mars helicopter successfully flies to a new destination"

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/07/world/ma ... index.html

smp

[bearnard00]

I guess it`s time to talk about the 5th flight that happened on 7 May. It’s an important event because it’s a one-way flight: the drone landed in a completely new location that means starting the new phase of the drone mission. 5th flight of Ingenuity was successful and landed in new location. It was a one-way flight and during this flight drone gained a new altitude — 10 meters. IT's a new record. On the whole, helicopter just started to perform its mission — to explore new sites for the rover, and it does it successfully.