Another day, another successful flight test for NASA’s Mars Ingenuity helicopter. In fact, the mission has been so successful that it’s going to be extended.
For Ingenuity’s fourth flight test, out of an originally planned five, the four-pound remote-controlled aircraft traveled almost 900 feet at 8 miles per hour, a trip that took just shy of two minutes to complete. Like the previous test, it flew at a height of 16.5 feet.
The distance and speed are roughly double where we were when Ingenuity’s third flight test unfolded on April 25. It’s notable because the fourth test opened things up intentionally, after the third test left NASA satisfied that its goal with these tests — to measure the viability of aerial exploration on Mars — had been achieved. Read more…
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