Mars helicopter Ingenuity flies to a new location for the first time

(ORDO NEWS) — An Ingenuity helicopter on Mars flew to a new location for the first time, successfully completing its fifth flight, NASA reported.

The previous, fourth, helicopter flight on Mars took place on April 30. Then the device was able to fly farther and faster than ever before, and take more photos than before. During the fourth and previous flights, the helicopter returned back.

“NASA’s Ingenuity Martian helicopter made its fifth one-way flight on the Red Planet today (Friday - Ed.) From the Wright Brothers Field to the landing zone 423 feet (129 meters) south,” NASA said in a statement.

After reaching a new point, the device climbed to a record height of 10 meters and took color images of the area, and then landed. Now, according to the department, the apparatus is entering a new phase of operations and will carry out reconnaissance and aerial surveillance. The Perseverance rover is heading to the same location for research and sample collection.

“We can make a couple more flights over the next few weeks, and then NASA will assess how things are,” - quoted in a statement NASA said chief engineer of the Ingenuity mission Bob Balaram.

NASA separately reported that during the fourth flight of Ingenuity, the Perseverance rover for the first time was able to record the sound of the blades of “another spacecraft”, that is, a helicopter.

Ingenuity arrived on Mars in February as part of the Perseverance rover mission. The latter transmits images received from a helicopter to Earth, and also with the help of cameras, monitors the progress of its tests.

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