New height taken: Ingenuity helicopter sets two records on Mars

This is the 49th flight of the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars.

The 49th flight was made by Ingenuity on Sunday 2 April. According to the flight log of the mission, the 1.8 kg helicopter reached a maximum speed of 23.3 km/h and a maximum altitude of 16 meters. The previous records were 21.6 km/h and 14 m respectively.

New height taken: Ingenuity helicopter sets two records on Mars

Recall that the Ingenuity helicopter (“Ingenuity”) was delivered to Mars attached to the bottom of the Perseverance (“Perseverance”) rover, which landed in the Lake Lake crater on February 18, 2021. The main tasks of Ingenuity are to demonstrate technology, conduct the first flights to Mars and conduct reconnaissance for Perseverance. 

During all of its 49 flights, Ingenuity was “in the air” for a total of 86.7 minutes and covered 11,224 km.