On Friday, May 7, the Ingenuity helicopter, which was flown to Mars aboard the Perseverance rover, made its fifth flight and moved to a new location on the Red Planet for the first time, according to the US National Aeronautics Administration and space exploration (NASA).
In a message on the agency's website, it is specified that the device took off at 15:26 time on the east coast of the United States (22:26 Moscow time), and its flight lasted almost two minutes – 108 seconds. During this time, the drone helicopter moved 129 meters southward, while during the four previous flights it always returned to the launch site.
NASA notes that this time the spacecraft ascended to its maximum height (10 meters) and managed to make color images of the surface of Mars before landing.
“Our next plan is to relocate Ingenuity so that it does not slow down the pace of Perseverance's scientific operations. We can make a couple more flights in the coming weeks, after which NASA will evaluate the results, ”said the chief designer of the Martian helicopter, Bob Balaram.
Recall, as the website kp.ru wrote, the first flight tests of the helicopter took place on April 19. During the flight, which lasted 40 seconds, the drone weighing 1.8 kilograms rose above the surface of the Red Planet to a height of up to three meters, after which it made a successful landing.
