Ingenuity Mars helicopter fails to take off on fourth test flight

With three successful test flights under their belts, engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory uplinked commands for a fourth, more ambitious flight of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter Thursday, but the small rotorcraft apparently failed to take off, officials said.

"Aim high, and fly, fly again," JPL tweeted. "The #MarsHelicopter's ambitious fourth flight didn't get off the ground, but the team is assessing the data and will aim to try again soon." The small 4-pound dual-rotor drone, designed to test the feasibility of powered flight in the ultra-thin atmosphere of Mars, had been scheduled for its most ambitious flight yet, targeting liftoff from "Wright Brothers Field" in Jezero Crater at 10:12 a.m. EDT.