Ingenuity breaks altitude record while flying on Mars

Madrid, September 20 (European Press) –

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars broke the altitude record in a flyby over Jezero Crater on the red planet. Up to 20 meters above the groundtwo more than the previous brand.

This was the purpose of the 59th flight of this plane, the first controlled flight on another world, which It was deployed to Mars in February 2021 alongside the Perseverance rover.

The flight was on September 16th It lasted 142 seconds and was exclusively vertical. It took off and landed in the same place at what is called the Sigma landing field, NASA reports.

The aircraft, whose images contribute to the planning of Perseverance’s surface exploration, The total flight distance is 13.3 kilometers during 106.5 minutes of flight in the weak atmosphere of Mars.

The bara is half a meter long and weighs 1.8 kilograms. It contains six solar-charged lithium-ion batteries. Its four carbon fiber blades are arranged in two rotors that rotate in opposite directions at about 2,400 rpm. Much faster than a helicopter on the ground.