NASA's Ingenuity helicopter gears up for another flight on Mars

NASA's tiny Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, is gearing up for another flight, Flight 34, on the Red Planet. Scheduled for Thursday, November 10, the upcoming flight will be a short test flight, during which the tiny rotorcraft will hover for less than 20 seconds at about 16 feet (5 meters), according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the project for the agency.

During the last aerial commute, i.e. Flight 33, on September 24, 2022, a tiny piece of foreign object debris (FOD) ended up on the tiny rotorcraft's foot, which was captured by the navigation camera (Navcam) onboard the helicopter. Luckily, it came off and did not impact the flight.

More details about the upcoming flight can be found here.

It’s time for another #MarsHelicopter flight! Ingenuity is preparing for Flight 34, which is expected to happen no earlier than Nov. 10. The rotorcraft will do a short test flight, hovering for less than 20 seconds at about 16 feet (5 meters). https://t.co/9aUyuvHEZS pic.twitter.com/deZZC0Ejjq

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) November 10, 2022

NASA's Ingenuity hitched a ride to Mars on the Perseverance rover in July 2020 and landed at the planet's Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021. The tiny rotorcraft has survived more than a year beyond its original planned lifetime on the Red Planet.

(To be updated)