Ingenuity Survives 7th Flight; NASA's Mars Helicopter Landed in a Brand New Spot!

NASA's Ingenuity chopper has defied the odds on Mars for the seventh time. It successfully flew 350 feet south to land in entirely new territory.

The helicopter, the size of a tissue box, flew to a new landing place twice. First, it hovered over ground its navigation cameras had never seen before. And then it gently lowered itself to land. NASA only discovered the new area thanks to its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter which takes pictures of the red planet from space. The images taken by the orbiter showed that the site was flat and suitable for landing.

(Photo: Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech)

The risky Martian maneuver was well worth it. With seven flights under its belt, Ingenuity is now based at a completely new landing site.

"Another successful flight," NASA announced on Tuesday. The flight's date was not specified by the agency, although it was no earlier than Sunday.

Ingenuity Exceeds Flying Lifespan

NASA didn't intend to maneuver the helicopter around as much as they did. They only intended to fly Ingenuity five times. According to engineers, they expected it to crash before the conclusion of the last run. However, Ingenuity did so well in its early, more cautious flights that it has been assigned to new missions. The helicopter is likely to continue flying to new landing sites as long as it survives.

Thanks to its new missions, Ingenuity will test operations that NASA may want to conduct with future space helicopters. Scouting and mapping and studying fascinating aspects of Mars from the air, and investigating tricky terrain that rovers can't reach, are all part of the plan.

"The ability to fly the helicopter out into terrain that the rover cannot possibly traverse and bring back scientific data -- this is extremely important for future missions that could combine a rover with a reconnaissance helicopter," Ken Farley, a project scientist with NASA's Perseverance rover, said in a briefing, Business Insider reported.

The helicopter made the first of these bonus flights on May 22. It flew a record 700 feet to a new location. Unfortunately, Science Times said the helicopter's navigation system failed in mid-flight, causing it to pitch side to side as it flew. Yet, Ingenuity was able to stabilize itself and land safely. It came within roughly 16 feet of its target, landing for the first time in completely unexplored territory.

ALSO READ: NASA Explains How Mars Ingenuity Rover Got Its Glitch During 6th Flight

NASA Says They'll See How Ingenuity Goes

NASA has not stated how many more times Ingenuity will be able to fly.

"We're in a kind of see-how-goes phase," said Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, Space.com reported. 

Meanwhile, the Perseverance rover, which delivered Ingenuity to Mars, has begun moving south to the location where it will attempt to collect the first sample of Martian soil. Ingenuity's partner has also reached 100 days on the Red Planet, Business Insider said. Its primary goal is to investigate Martian rocks and soil and collect dozens of samples for return to Earth by a future NASA mission. Scientists discovered the first evidence of ancient alien germs in those samples -- fossils trapped in the bottom of an ancient lake bed.

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