We’re Going Big for Flight 9

Since Ingenuity’s historic first flight on April 19, where it hovered about 10 feet (3 meters) above the Martian surface for 30 seconds, we have been progressively stretching the capabilities of the helicopter by flying farther, faster, and more aggressively. Ingenuity has flown at altitudes up to 33 feet (10 meters) and ground speeds up to 13 feet (4 meters) a second. It covered a distance of 873 feet (266 meters) on Flight 4, and stayed in the air for 139.9 seconds on Flight 6. It has navigated between five different airfields, three of which were identified based on satellite imagery only. It has even survived an in-flight anomaly while still landing within about 16 feet (5 meters) of its intended target.