NASA's Mars helicopter tests new flight software capabilities on the Red Planet

NASA's Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity, has made another successful flight on the Red Planet, 203 feet (62 meters) above the Martian surface for 55.16 seconds at a max altitude of 33 feet (10 meters).

Ingenuity logged Flight 37 on December 17, during which the tiny rotorcraft tested the new flight software capabilities. The helicopter received a major software update last month that added two major new capabilities: to avoid hazards while landing and the use of digital elevation maps for accurate navigation.

This was the fourth software upgrade for the helicopter that will allow it to safely fly up the steep terrain of the Jezero river delta.

Over the weekend, the #MarsHelicopter completed Flight 37! Ingenuity traveled 203 feet (62 meters) above the Martian surface for 55.16 seconds at a max altitude of 33 feet (10 meters) to reposition itself and test new flight software capabilities. https://t.co/1CXIWefLCQ pic.twitter.com/bmNrEtzqss

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) December 20, 2022

Ingenuity took to the Martian skies for the first time on April 19th, 2021. The rotorcraft has operated way beyond its original planned mission of 30 sols, or Martian days. Last month, Ingenuity scripted history by conducting the shortest-ever flight on the Red Planet, popping up to a little over 16 feet (5 meters)for just 8 seconds.

Two Ingenuity-inspired Sample Recovery Helicopters are slated to fly to Mars as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign, a mission to return samples of rock and soil collected from the Martian surface by NASA's Perseverance rover. Scheduled for later in this decade, the mission will revolutionize humanity's understanding of the Red Planet.

The Sample Recovery Helicopters will serve as backups to NASA's Perseverance rover in transporting sample tubes to the Sample Retrieval Lander. Scientists will examine these samples from carefully selected Martian rocks using sophisticated instruments too large and too complex to send to the planet