NASA documents its longest and fastest flight on the Red Planet

NASA has released new footage of the 25th flight of the Ingenuity helicopter to Mars, revealing the longest and fastest ever small helicopter flight so far.
The black and white navigation camera of the “Ingenuity” Mars helicopter provided exciting video of its record-breaking 25th flight, which occurred on April 18.
The helicopter traveled a distance of 704 meters (2,310 feet), at a speed of 5.5 meters per second (12 miles per hour), and this was the longest and fastest helicopter flight on the Red Planet so far, according to what Russia Today reported.
It is noteworthy that “Ingenuity” is currently preparing for its 29th flight.
“For our record-breaking flight, Ingenuity’s downward navigation camera provided us with an incredible sense of what it would be like to glide over a height 33 feet above the surface of Mars at 12 miles per hour.
The first frame of the video starts approximately one second after the flight. After reaching a height of ten meters (33 feet), the helicopter heads to the southwest, accelerating to its maximum speed in less than three seconds.
The helicopter flies first over a group of ripples of sand, and then, about halfway through the video, over several rocky fields. Finally, a relatively flat and featureless terrain appears below, providing a good place to land.
The video of the 161.3-second flight was sped up about five times, cutting the time to less than 35 seconds.
The navigation camera is programmed to deactivate when the helicopter is within one meter (three feet) of the surface.
This helps ensure that dust flying during take-off and landing does not interfere with the navigation system, as it tracks features on the ground.
The “pilots” at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory plan for the Ingenuity’s self-driving flights, and send commands to the Perseverance rover on Mars, which then transmits these commands to the helicopter.

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