NASA's tiny Mars helicopter logs 36th successful flight on the Red Planet

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter successfully completed its 36th flight on Mars on December 10, 2022, hovering above the Martian surface for just over a minute (60.52 seconds).

The small rotorcraft hitched a ride to the Red Planet on NASA's Perseverance rover in July 2020 and landed at the planet's Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021. Built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the helicopter was launched as a technology demonstration to test powered, controlled flight on another world for the first time.

Last month, Ingenuity conducted the shortest flight in Martian aviation history - just for 8 seconds - popping up to a little over 16 feet (5 meters).

The tiny rotorcraft will attempt Flight 37 no earlier than December 17. It is expected to reach 33 feet (10 meters) and travel 180 feet (55 meters) in 49 seconds to reposition itself during this upcoming flight.

Making moves!Ingenuity #MarsHelicopter recently completed Flight 36, staying above the Martian surface for just over a minute (60.52 seconds)! See more stats in the flight log: https://t.co/1CXIWefLCQ pic.twitter.com/hEuGXQ6Moz

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) December 14, 2022

Ingenuity recently received a major software update that provided the helicopter with two major new capabilities: to avoid hazards while landing and the use of digital elevation maps for navigation.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Artemis I, the first in a series of increasingly complex lunar missions, saw an uncrewed spacecraft fly by the Moon twice. The spacecraft, named Orion, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on 11 December, after a 1.4 million-mile journey around the Moon.