NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has always pushed the limits since its first take off on Mars and continues to do so. The last example of this was the last flight to Mars by the vehicle. And now NASA has shared the video of Ingenuity’s 25th flight on April 8, when it broke time and speed records.
The robotic helicopter flew for two minutes and 41 seconds at an average speed of approximately 20 km/h, recording images of the rippling sands and rocky areas of the Red Planet during its 700-metre journey. The posted video has been sped up to reduce the viewing time to 35 seconds.
The video doesn’t contain the exact beginning and end of the journey, but with good reason. When Ingenuity is within one meter of the Martian surface, the navigation camera turns off to prevent dust from interfering with the navigation system. The autonomous pilot receives flight plans from JPL, but uses a combination of camera, laser rangefinder and inertial measurement unit to adapt to real conditions.
Since the video shared flight, Ingenuity has made three more flights. The helicopter is currently preparing for flight 29, after briefly frightening the mission crew in early May when it lost communication after it went into a low power state.
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