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The Ingenuity Mars helicopter safely flew to a new location after four historical trips. The 4-pound chopper took a one-way trip to its new airfield on Friday.
Ingenuity took off from Wright Brothers Field, much like previous flights, except it s not coming back.
Space.com said the flight took off at 3:26 p.m. ET, or 12:33 p.m. local Mars time. Around 7:31 p.m. ET, Ingenuity shared the data back to NASA s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
(Photo: Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Ingenuity rose 16 feet (5 meters) into the air and soared 423 feet (129 meters) south this time. This retraces the route the helicopter took while scouting for the next spot on its fourth flight.
Washington, May 9
NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has added many firsts to its kitty. After becoming the first to test power flight on another world and to capture the colour image of the Martian su
NASA s Ingenuity Mars rotorcraft has set new records for flight altitude and distance on the Red Planet, completing its fifth successful flight test.
In the flight on Friday, Ingenuity reached an altitude of 33 feet on its first one-way journey from Wright Brothers Field to an airfield 423 feet to the south, which has not yet been named. The fifth flight of the Mars Helicopter is another great achievement for the agency, said Bob Pearce, associate administrator for NASA s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. The continuing success of Ingenuity proves the value of bringing together the strengths of diverse skill sets from across the agency to create the future, like flying an aircraft on another planet! he added.