NASA Planning Sixth Flight of Mars Ingenuity Helicopter

Officials with the U.S. space agency NASA say they are making plans for the sixth flight of the Mars Ingenuity helicopter, designed to stretch the craft’s capabilities and demonstrate how similar aircraft can support future missions to the planet.

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.