NASA's Mars Ingenuity Rover Survives Most Nerve-Wracking, Ninth Flight Conquers Steep Slopes in Red Planet

NASA's Ingenuity chopper is still scooting across the Martian sky, having recently completed its ninth and most challenging trip yet.

Several of the multi-rotor aircraft's own records were broken during the flight, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, which is in charge of the newest Mars mission.

Ingenuity soared for 166.4 seconds during its most recent trip, breaking the previous record of 139.9 seconds during its sixth flight on May 23.

(Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter captured this shot as it hovered over the Martian surface on April 19, 2021, during the first instance of powered, controlled flight on another planet. It used its navigation camera, which autonomously tracks the ground during flight.

The 4-pound, 19-inch-high helicopter also flew a distance of 625 meters, breaking the previous record of 266 meters set on its fourth flight on April 29.

The machine also reached a top speed of 5 meters per second, which is 1 mph quicker than its previous flights.

JPL posted a shot taken by the aircraft's downward-facing camera as it soared over the Martian surface to confirm Ingenuity's successful mission.

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Ingenuity Successfully Conquered Steep Slopes in Mars

The topography below provided additional obstacles for the helicopter's navigation system, which was built to operate on relatively level terrain. Ingenuity had to figure out how to navigate "high slopes and undulations." Its crew was worried that the machine would crash into something dangerous. NASA said it is the "most nerve-wracking flight since Flight 1."

#MarsHelicopter pushes its Red Planet limits. 🚁
The rotorcraft completed its 9th and most challenging flight yet, flying for 166.4 seconds at a speed of 5 m/s. Take a look at this shot of Ingenuity’s shadow captured with its navigation camera. https://t.co/TNCdXWcKWE pic.twitter.com/zUIbrr7Qw9
— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) July 5, 2021

Since its historic journey on April 19, Ingenuity had certainly improved when it became the first aircraft to achieve controlled flight on another planet. It ascended to a height of 3 meters on that flight and lingered for around 40 seconds before landing again. Each consecutive flight has been increasingly difficult.

JPL has been impressed by Ingenuity's ability to handle Mars' thin atmosphere, which offers difficult conditions for aircraft that need to obtain lift to stay in the air. Engineers constructed NASA's Mars helicopter with carbon-fiber blades grouped into two rotors that rotate at 2,400 RPM, much faster than a passenger helicopter's rotors turn on Earth, which has a thicker atmosphere than Mars.

Ingenuity Overcame Roadblocks

From a software malfunction to an in-flight anomaly, Ingenuity has indeed already overcome many possible roadblocks. It also survived the journey from Earth to Mars aboard the spacecraft that also carried NASA's Perseverance rover, safely deploying to the Martian surface, coping with the bitterly cold temperatures on Mars, charging itself via solar panels, and, last but not least, the process of lift.

More advanced versions of Ingenuity could explore and study rocky areas on Mars and other worlds that are difficult to reach with traditional wheel-based rovers. The flying aircraft could also aid in safe mapping paths for rovers, allowing them to go between research sites more swiftly.

"A successful flight would be a powerful demonstration of the capability that an aerial vehicle (and only an aerial vehicle) can bring to bear in the context of Mars exploration — traveling quickly across otherwise untraversable terrain while scouting for interesting science targets," NASA said per CNet.

While Ingenuity has already exceeded expectations, the JPL team is far from finished, as it plans future flights to push the device to its limits, allowing NASA to fine-tune the helicopter's design.