On February 4, the Ingenuity drone helicopter successfully completed a new flight. In its course, the spacecraft overcame a distance of 248 meters, which was its best achievement.
The new flight was already the 42nd for Ingenuity. Its main goal was to move the drone closer to the remains of an ancient river delta. It is currently being explored by the Perseverance rover. The 42nd flight of Ingenuity lasted 137.17 seconds. During this time, the device overcame a distance of 248 meters. The maximum height was 10 meters, the speed was 3 m/s.
If you look at the map of the drone’s movements, you can see that the device has already left the relatively flat terrain where it operated during its first Martian year. The next Ingenuity flights will take place over a territory with a much more complex terrain.
Mission specialists plan to use the drone in the new scientific company of the Perseverance rover. It will be used for aerial reconnaissance in order to compile a rover and search for new targets for it. In addition, Ingenuity will be able to photograph areas inaccessible to Perseverance.
Earlier we talked about how scientists used Ingenuity data to study the movement of dust in the Martian atmosphere.
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