Mars Helicopter preps for 57th flight on the Red Planet

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is gearing up for its next flight on the Red Planet. The Flight 57 is scheduled to take place no earlier than Saturday, September 2.

During this flight, Ingenuity will attempt to fly 204 meters north for about 120 seconds at a maximum speed of 3 meters per second. The key goal of this flight is to reposition the helicopter and image the science targets.

Last week, the helicopter completed its 56 flight on the Red Planet, travelling 1,334 ft (410 m) across the Martian surface.

The #MarsHelicopter is ready to attempt Flight 57!It’s set to take off no earlier than Sept. 2. Ingenuity is expected to fly 204 meters north for about 120 seconds. https://t.co/6xIGUMoMdQ pic.twitter.com/iE1R3071ax

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) September 1, 2023

Last month, NASA's Perseverance Mars rover captured a video of the helicopter's 54th flight which took place on August 3, 2023. The shot was captured using the Mastcam-Z imager mounted on the rover from a distance of about 180 feet (55 meters).

Video Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was designed to demonstrate up to five flights in the extremely thin Martian atmosphere. However, the tiny rotorcraft has far exceeded expectations by completing 56 flights since taking to the Martian skies for the first time in April 2021.

Ingenuity flies on its own, without any human control. It previews areas of Mars of possible interest for NASA's Perseverance rover to explore. The rover is looking for signs of ancient microbial life on the planet. It is the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith, which will be returned to Earth in subsequent missions for in-depth analysis.

The success of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has also paved the way for future aerial explorers at Mars and, potentially, other space destinations.