NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter — expected to fly just five times — has completed its 50th flight on Mars.
The first aircraft on another world reached the half-century mark on April 13, 2023, traveling over 1,057.09 feet in 145.7 seconds. The helicopter also achieved a new altitude record of 59 feet before alighting near the half-mile-wide Belva Crater.
With Flight 50 in the mission logbook, the helicopter team plans to perform another repositioning flight before exploring the Fall River Pass region of Jezero Crater, according to NASA officials.
“Just as the Wright brothers continued their experiments well after that momentous day at Kitty Hawk in 1903, the Ingenuity team continues to pursue and learn from the flight operations of the first aircraft on another world,” said Lori Glaze, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
The helicopter, which landed on Mars in February 2021 attached to the belly of NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover, will soon mark the two-year anniversary of its first flight, which took place on April 19, 2021.
Designed as a technology demonstration that would fly no more than five times, the helicopter was intended to prove powered, controlled flight on another planet was possible. But Ingenuity exceeded expectations, NASA officials noted.
Built with many off-the-shelf components, such as smartphone processors and cameras, Ingenuity is now 23 Earth months and 45 flights beyond its expected lifetime. The rotorcraft has flown for over 89 minutes and more than 7.1 miles.
“When we first flew, we thought we would be incredibly lucky to eke out five flights,” said Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity team lead at JPL. “We have exceeded our expected cumulative flight time since our technology demonstration wrapped by 1,250% and expected distance flown by 2,214%.”
Surpassing expectations like this comes at a cost, however, according to NASA officials. With some helicopter components showing signs of wear and the terrain becoming more challenging, the Ingenuity team recognizes that every great mission must eventually come to an end.
“We have come so far and we want to go farther,” said Tzanetos. “But we have known since the very beginning our time at Mars was limited, and every operational day is a blessing. Whether Ingenuity’s mission ends tomorrow, next week, or months from now is something no one can predict at present. What I can predict is that when it does, we’ll have one heck of a party.”
Learn more about the helicopter here.