Mars

NASA has announced that it is extending the mission for the Ingenuity helicopter that has been operating on the surface of the Red Planet for days now. NASA has announced that it will keep the helicopter flying for an additional 30 days with the potential for more testing time via an extended mission. NASA says that the extended mission will test the helicopter's ability to scout, presumably meaning explore the planet for sites of interest for potential future exploration.

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NASA's Ingenuity may have seen some delays in its fourth flight, but with that safely under its belt the Mars helicopter's next big missions have been revealed. The fourth mission for the historic aircraft was its most ambitious yet, tapping its dual cameras to underscore how valuable an eye in the sky could be to future space missions. Still, even more adventures alongside the Perseverance rover are yet to come, NASA has confirmed.

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NASA's Jet Propulsion Labs (JPL) is definitely having a field day testing its latest toy. Instead of the usual attention given to a rover, the Ingenuity Mars helicopter has been the focus of its experiments and with good reason. NASA's scientists and engineers have been quite impressed at how the autonomous aircraft has so far performed on its first time on the Red Planet. Tomorrow, they will take it for another test, one that will push the envelope of NASA's first-ever planetary aerial exploration vehicle.

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NASA's Perseverance has been acting as remote camera operator for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter's three flights, but the tables were turned on the latest launch when the historic aircraft snapped a shot in return. Though Ingenuity isn't designed to carry any science experiments - proving the helicopter can fly on Mars is itself the big test - it does have a camera onboard.

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NASA's Perseverance Martian rover may have been a milestone achievement but it's the Ingenuity helicopter that's taking all of the spotlight in the news. Made from off-the-shelf parts and running Linux and open source programs, the helicopter's performance continues to impress NASA scientists. In its third test flight, the helicopter was able to break its own speed and distance record, a noteworthy achievement considering NASA never had the room to test Ingenuity that way.

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China has finally picked a name for the rover aboard its Tianwen-1 probe that arrived in orbit around the Red Planet on February 24. The rover is currently scheduled to be placed on the surface of Mars in May and is tasked with looking for evidence of ancient life. Chinese authorities have chosen a name for the rover, and that name is Zhurong.

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As anticipated, NASA recently conducted a second flight involving its Ingenuity helicopter that arrived on Mars with the Perseverance rover. The second flight was as successful as the first, and now the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is back with details about its third planned flight involving the tiny copter. This time around, Ingenuity will go on a 330ft trip.

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NASA has released video of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter's second flight, a more ambitious test as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory team experiments with just what's possible for powered aircraft on other planets. The test took place on April 22, adding several new elements to the flight-plan compared to the history first attempt made back on April 19.

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The Mars helicopter has successfully completed its second flight, with Ingenuity cranking up the challenge as NASA expands its historic testing. This latest launch, which took place early in the morning on April 22, almost doubled the flight time compared to Monday's first attempt, with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory team taking advantage of that to throw in some extra maneuvers.

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NASA has announced a big achievement involving its Perseverance rover, which landed on the Red Planet in February: it has successfully converted some of the Martian atmosphere to oxygen. This accomplishment, NASA explains, could pave the way for oxygen storage on Mars, as well as a more futuristic scenario involving generating oxygen for astronauts to breathe.

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NASA has released a new, enhanced video of the Mars Ingenuity helicopter making its historic first flight earlier this week, showing the dramatic takeoff as it kicked up Martian dust while making its way into the record books. The first flight test of Ingenuity took place on Monday, April 19, and saw the helicopter launch, hover for around 30 seconds, and then safely land again.

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A couple of days ago, we mentioned the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter had successfully completed its second spin test with no problems. NASA announced after that test was complete that the first flight would come shortly. NASA has shared the first video of the Ingenuity helicopter's first flight, including takeoff and landing.

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