Officials with NASA’s Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL) which designed and operates the craft, said the next mission
will expand on progress made during its previous May 7 flight, its first
one-way trip to a new landing site.
Scientists said the sixth flight will also
be the first of Ingenuity’s demonstration phase. During its first five flights,
the Ingenuity team wanted to know if the aircraft would work as designed — take
off, fly, land and take pictures in the process. They also wanted to test its
battery functions and performance in Mars’ extreme climate. In all cases, the
scientists said it performed beyond expectations.
In the new phase, Ingenuity will show its
practical applications, including scouting multiple surface features from the
air and landing at a different airfield. During this phase, data and images
from the flight will be returned to Earth for analysis in the days following.
JPL scientists say flight six begins with
the helicopter ascending to 10 meters, then heading southwest for about 150
meters, when it will begin taking color pictures of the surrounding area. That
will demonstrate its ability to provide aerial views for future prospective
missions. It will then fly another 50 meters and touch down on its new base of
operations, known as Field C.
The flight is expected to last about 140
seconds — its longest flight yet — marking the first time the craft does not
land on a site it did not first survey from the air. The team chose the site
based on images received from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is
circling the planet.
The sixth flight will be the first in which
the Perseverance rover will not record images of the helicopter, as it is
preparing for the start of the mission’s science operations.
The 1.8-kilogram aircraft arrived on Mars
packed away on NASA’s Perseverance rover when it landed on the planet in
February. Aside from solar batteries and a transmitter, Ingenuity carries no
scientific instruments.
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