Resourcefulness saw its own shadow during its ninth flight.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASAs announcement Monday appears to show the chopper handled itself well. While the flight was dangerous, it made sense for what was always considered a high-risk, high-reward innovation experiment.Ingenuity has already get rid of a variety of possible obstacles, from a software problem to an in-flight anomaly. ” An effective flight would be an effective demonstration of the capability that an aerial automobile (and just an aerial car) can offer in the context of Mars expedition– traveling quickly throughout otherwise untraversable terrain while searching for intriguing science targets,” NASA said. Follow CNETs 2021 Space Calendar to stay up to date with all the latest area news this year. You can even add it to your own Google Calendar..

When NASA sent the Ingenuity helicopter to Mars, it was gamble. NASA announced on Monday Ingenuity successfully completed its ninth and “most challenging” flight yet.NASAs goal was to go huge with a daring “high-speed flight across unfriendly terrain” that would take the rotorcraft far from its robotic friend, the Perseverance rover.

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NASA described it as “the most stressful flight because Flight 1.”

It was gamble when NASA sent out the Ingenuity helicopter to Mars. Now its pushing its limitations, flying quick and reaching new heights. NASA revealed on Monday Ingenuity successfully finished its ninth and “most tough” flight yet.NASAs goal was to go huge with a daring “high-speed flight across hostile surface” that would take the rotorcraft far from its robotic pal, the Perseverance rover.

Instead of simply hopping ahead of the rover, the helicopter took a shortcut over a sandy location, setting records for distance, broadcast and speed at the same time. It struck a speed of 16 feet (5 meters) per second and flew for 166.4 seconds while snapping images of the landscape below.The surface below presented some new challenges for the helicopters navigation system, which was designed to deal with relatively flat ground. Ingenuity had to understand “high slopes and wavinesses” and its team was worried that the machine may unintentionally land in a treacherous location. NASA explained it as “the most stressful flight given that Flight 1.”