Mumbai, April 2023: The 50th Mars mission of NASA's Ingenuity helicopter recently completed. In 145.7 seconds on April 13, the helicopter covered 1,057.09 feet (322.2 metres). Additionally, it set a new altitude record of nearly 60 feet. The Ingenuity team continues to research and learn from the flight operations of the first aircraft on another world, just as the Wright brothers continued their experiments long after that historic day at Kitty Hawk in 1903, said a statement from Lori Glaze, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. NASA’s Mars Helicopter ‘Ingenuity’ Takes Flight, Makes First Flight on Another Planet. 

Ingenuity's 50th flight was announced by NASA along with a video showing the helicopter's 47th flight over the Martian desert. The footage, which was recorded by the Perseverance rover from a distance of roughly 400 feet, is utterly amazing.

"This video shows the dust initially kicked up by the helicopter's spinning rotors, as well as Ingenuity taking off, hovering, and beginning its 1,444-foot (440-meter) journey to the southwest. The rotorcraft landed — off camera — at Airfield 'Iota’, the space agency wrote in the description to the video.

Ingenuity Helicopter Flies Over Alien Desert on Mars 

Meanwhile, it is a tremendous achievement for humanity that a helicopter can fly on another planet. In February 2021, Ingenuity, which was tethered to NASA's Mars Perseverance rover, touched down on Mars. Its first flight was on April 19, 2021, and it will soon be two years since that first flight.

The Ingenuity helicopter's flights provide fresh perspectives on the red planet. For the scientists who can utilise the information from its journey to create future Mars helicopters, it is proving to be extraordinary. Alien Life on Mars Confirmed? UFO Hunter Spots Pink and Green 'Plant' Growing on Red Planet, Calls It '100% Proof' of Extraterrestrial Life. 

Moreover, the Ingenuity Helicopter departed the Jezero Crater's floor on January 19 and has since completed 11 flights. While doing so, it achieved new marks at both speed and height, reaching 14.5 mph (6.5 m/s) and 59 feet (18 m), respectively. With each flight, ingenuity has successfully navigated challenging and largely unexplored terrain.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 17, 2023 11:15 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).