In celebration of National Aviation Day, NASA has shared a video taken by the Perseverance rover on Mars that shows its helicopter companion, Ingenuity, in flight.
In its 54th flight on August 3, the clip shows Ingenuity's simple takeoff, hover, and landing. It comes after a recent incident in which NASA lost contact with the helicopter for a week due to a hill that interfered in sending signals to its rover pal Perseverance.
The Ingenuity had also lost contact before and made contact after two long months due to a grueling Mars winter. The Ingenuity became the first aircraft in history to make a powered, controlled flight on another planet. Its operation and life span on Mars were also longer than expected, and it continues to explore the Red Planet until now.
NASA Ingenuity Helicopter Takes 54th Flight on Mars
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) shared a video taken by the Perseverance rover, which significantly captures the capabilities and operations of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter as part of its 54th flight.
In the video, the Ingenuity can be seen flying amid the barren, reddish land of Mars, with the spacecraft reaching massive heights.
Fly into #NationalAviationDay with Ingenuity!@NASAPersevere captured this video during the #MarsHelicopter’s 54th flight as the rotorcraft hovered 16 feet (5 m) above the surface and rotated to the left before landing again. pic.twitter.com/y2ay2dKZa7
— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) August 19, 2023
In this flight, Ingenuity went up as much as 16 feet (5 meters) above the surface before turning left and landing back on the Martian ground. Since the 54th flight shown in the video, the Mars helicopter has already performed its 55th flight last August 12.
Read Also: NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Captures Glacier-Like Landforms on the Red Planet
Perseverance Shares Clip for National Aviation Day
Apart from the recent video of Ingenuity that NASA shared as part of National Aviation Day, the Perseverance rover also shared a photo of the helicopter using its "telescopic SuperCam."
My latest “Image of the Week,” as chosen by you. I recently got this snapshot of the #MarsHelicopter with my telescopic SuperCam. 📸 Which pic from this week will be up next? See my latest images and like your favorites: https://t.co/L6lhCMVQ4S – results Monday! pic.twitter.com/WTbuZZfD8A
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) August 18, 2023
It is the black and white image of the Ingenuity, which NASA uses to explore Mars as it continues with its operation.
NASA's Mars Mission: Ingenuity Helicopter
In June, there were grave concerns for the Perseverance mission's survival on Mars as the planet entered its infamous Winter season, known for its unforgiving conditions.
The concerns grew as the Perseverance and Ingenuity had no shelters to take solace in and would have to face low energy as the amount of power their solar panels could collect was limited.
However, after two months of being silent, the Ingenuity space helicopter has finally phoned home, signaling to the world that it is still up for the many missions it can conduct while on the Red Planet.
After this event, NASA conducted different survey flights for Ingenuity, marking its return to missions and operations. During its early days, the Ingenuity space helicopter was initially thought of as only having a few flights on its mission with the Perseverance.
However, the Mars helicopter continues its mission to explore the Red Planet until now. NASA celebrated National Aviation Day on August 19, with Ingenuity being the star of this event.
Related Article: NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander Takes a Selfie on the Red Planet
