Mars Ingenuity helicopter chalks up record flight as NASA extends its mission
CBSN
NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, grounded Thursday by a pesky-but-understood software issue, successfully completed its fourth flight in the ultra-thin atmosphere of Mars Friday, kicking off a new phase of extended science operations for the $80 million drone.
"Ingenuity successfully completed its fourth flight today, and we couldn't be happier," project manager MiMi Aung said in an on-line status report. "We have lots of data to analyze. Ingenuity's performance on Mars has been letter-perfect. This is an amazing time for our entire team!" Data from the helicopter, relayed back to Earth via the Perseverance rover and one of NASA's Mars orbiters, confirmed the 4-pound helicopter took off from "Wright Brothers Field" in Jezero Crater around 10:49 a.m. EDT (12:33 p.m. local time on Mars).The Consumer Federal Protection Bureau last week launched an inquiry into what the agency is calling "junk fees in mortgage closing costs." These additional fees, involving home appraisal, title insurance and other services, have spiked in recent years and can add thousands of dollars to the final cost of buying a home.
Retired Maj. Gen. William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic "Earthrise" photo showing the planet as a shadowed blue marble from space in 1968, was killed Friday when the plane he was piloting alone plummeted into the waters off the San Juan Islands in Washington state. He was 90.