Confirmed: Mars helicopter still alive

Did you know that operators spent a little over two months without communication with the helicopter on the surface of Mars? Its 50th flight, back in April of this year, was a record-breaking flight for the rotorcraft, called Ingenuity.

NASA said last week that the Ingenuity helicopter is alive and well after its 52nd flight. The landing zone for the flight, which was a scouting mission for future Perseverance rover travels, placed Ingenuity behind a ridgeline and out of communication with the rover.

This is routine for Ingenuity and has happened before. During the flight, Ingenuity can send back data and images, however, it must wait until contact is established to certify that all is well.

During the 63-day hiatus, which was expected, teams had to wait to know the true outcome of flight 52. Although the streak of 100% successful flights continues, anything can happen at any time.

Flight 52 was a 1,191-foot (363-meter) flight to inspect upcoming areas of travel for the Perseverance Rover. NASA has stated that if all of Ingenuity’s systems remain healthy, the next flight could be expected within the next few weeks.

Originally Ingenuity was only supposed to fly five times within a single month. Two years later it has become a vital part of the Mars 2020 mission and has changed the way mission planners are looking at the next steps for their programs.

Ingenuity has been so successful that Congress asked for similar aircraft to be added to the Mars Sample Return mission plan to aid in gathering core samples. NASA is also working on a much larger space-faring aircraft called Dragonfly, with its eyes set to fly around Jupiter’s icy moon of Titan.