After weeks of Earthlings fawning over Venus and the Perseverance rover stepping out of its shell to start its scientific objective, one can imagine the Mars helicopter Ingenuity felt a little miffed that the spotlight has actually carried on. But on Tuesday morning, NASA revealed that the helicopter had actually completed its eighth flight, putting the helicopter back in the mix of space expedition conversation.Ingenuity flew for 77.4 seconds, taking a trip about 525 feet to a new landing area some 438 feet from the Perseverance rover, NASA revealed in a tweet. (These days sols, like a pet dog on a leash, Ingenuity needs to stay up to date with Perseverance as the rover starts its main objective, searching for signs of ancient life in Jezero Crater.) These numbers are comparable to previous flights: Flight 8 was somewhat longer in distance and period than flight seven, but shy of the numbers accomplished in flight six. Thats because those record-setting flights became part of Ingenuitys preliminary searching program, when the helicopter wasnt playing second fiddle to the rover.Ingenuity in flight during its 5th trip into the Martian air.Image: NASA/JPL-CaltechThe first 4 Martian flights stayed with Wright Brothers Field, where the helicopter was originally offloaded by Perseverance and got its wings. With time to spare before Perseverance was set up to start its scientific objectives, Ingenuity entered its Martian scout phase, an upgrade from its preliminary function as a simple innovation presentation. The helicopters current flights have actually been staggered about two weeks apart, a departure from its formerly frenzied schedule, where it handled four flights in 11 days.G/ O Media might get a commissionIngenuity will continue to flit around the area of Perseverance while the rover does its thing. Heres hoping NASA continues to push the copters limits, even it if results in a project-ending crunch.More: NASAs Ingenuity Helicopter Nails Its Seventh Flight on Mars