Mars    Helicopter

Status Updates

March 16, 2023
 Flight 48 Preview – By the Numbers
 Written by NASA/JPL
Perseverance's Mastcam-Z Views Ingenuity's 47th Takeoff: NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is seen here at the starting point of its 47th flight on Mars. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS. Download video ›
Flight: 48 Flight date:  No earlier than 03/18/2023 Horizontal flight distance: 1,271.7 feet (387.6 meters) Flight time:  142.36 seconds Flight altitude: 40 feet (12 meters) Heading: Northwest Flight speed: 10.4 mph (4.65  meters per second)   Goal of flight: Reposition of the helicopter and image science targets along the way
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March 09, 2023
 Flight 47 Preview – By the Numbers
 Written by NASA/JPL
Mars surface image from rover
Mars Helicopter Sol 714 - Color Camera: NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter acquired this image using its high-resolution color camera. This camera is mounted in the helicopter's fuselage and pointed approximately 22 degrees below the horizon. This image was acquired on Feb. 22, 2023 (Sol 714 of the Perseverance rover mission). Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›
Flight: 47 Flight date:  No earlier than 03/09/2023 Horizontal flight distance: 1410.728 feet (429.99 meters) Flight time (nominal, w/ max divert):  138.69 seconds Flight altitude: 40 feet (12 meters) Heading: Southwest Flight speed: 11.9 mph (5.3 meters per second) Goal of flight: Reposition helicopter & image science targets along the way
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February 24, 2023
 Flight 46 Preview – By the Numbers
 Written by NASA/JPL
Mars surface image from rover
Mars Helicopter Sol 714 - Navigation Camera: NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter acquired this image using its navigation camera. This camera is mounted in the helicopter's fuselage and pointed directly downward to track the ground during flight. This image was acquired on Feb. 22, 2023 (Sol 714 of the Perseverance rover mission) at the local mean solar time of 17:08:32. This was the date of Ingenuity's 45th flight. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›
Flight: 46 Flight date:  No earlier than 02/25/2023 Horizontal flight distance: 1,461 feet (445 meters) Flight time (nominal, w/ max divert):  136.27 seconds Flight altitude: 40 feet (12 meters) Heading: Southwest Flight speed: 11.9 mph (5.3 meters per second) Goal of flight: Reposition of the helicopter and scout future airfields
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February 21, 2023
 Flight 45 Preview – By the Numbers
 Written by NASA/JPL
Mars surface image from rover
Mars Helicopter Sol 711 - Navigation Camera: NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter acquired this image using its navigation camera. This camera is mounted in the helicopter's fuselage and pointed directly downward to track the ground during flight. This image was acquired on Feb. 19, 2023 (Sol 711 of the Perseverance rover mission) at the local mean solar time of 16:07:23. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›
Flight: 45 Flight date: No earlier than 02/22/2023 Horizontal flight distance: 1,614.38 feet (492.063 meters) Flight time: 139.60 seconds Flight altitude: 40 feet (12 meters) Heading: Northwest Flight speed: 12.3 mph (5.5 meters per second) Goal of flight: Reposition of the helicopter
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February 17, 2023
 Flight 44 Preview – By the Numbers
 Written by NASA/JPL
Mars surface image from rover
Mars Helicopter Sol 708 - Navigation Camera: NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter acquired this image using its navigation camera. This camera is mounted in the helicopter's fuselage and pointed directly downward to track the ground during flight. This image was acquired on Feb. 16, 2023 (Sol 708 of the Perseverance rover mission) at the local mean solar time of 16:05:40. This was the date of Ingenuity's 43rd flight. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›
Flight: 44 Flight date:  No earlier than Feb. 19 Horizontal flight distance: 1066 feet (325 meters) Flight time: 440 feet (134 meters) Flight altitude: 40 feet (12 meters) Heading: Northwest Flight speed: 7.8 mph (3.5 meters per second) Goal of flight: Reposition helicopter
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February 14, 2023
 Perseverance's Four-Legged Companion is Ready
 Written by Travis Brown, Chief Engineer Ingenuity Mars Helicopter at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Mars surface image from rover
Mars Helicopter at Three Forks: Sol 650 Z-Cam image inadvertently catches the solitary Mars helicopter as it struggles to stay warm Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS. Download image ›
On May 3rd 2022 Ingenuity’s team of engineers and scientists got their first hint of the hardship to come when they opened their comm logs to find radio silence. The small helicopter, sitting on a planet 240 million km (149 million miles) away, had run out of power while trying to keep itself warm during the cold Martian night. It likely happened in the early morning hours of Sol 426 (May 1st ,...
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February 10, 2023
 Flight 43 Preview – By the Numbers
 Written by NASA/JPL
Mars surface image from rover
Mars Helicopter Sol 693 - Color Camera: NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter acquired this image using its high-resolution color camera. This camera is mounted in the helicopter's fuselage and pointed approximately 22 degrees below the horizon. This image was acquired on Jan. 31, 2023 (Sol 693 of the Perseverance rover mission) at the local mean solar time of 10:44:02. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›
Flight: 43 Flight date: No earlier than 02/11/2023 Horizontal flight distance: 1235.6 feet (376.56 meters) Flight time: 137.05 seconds Flight altitude: 40 feet (12 meters) Heading: Northwest Flight speed: 8.9 mph (4 meters per second) Goal of flight: Reposition of the helicopter
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February 02, 2023
 Flight 42 Preview – By the Numbers
 Written by NASA/JPL
Mars surface image from rover
Mars Helicopter Sol 689 - Navigation Camera: NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter acquired this image using its navigation camera. This camera is mounted in the helicopter's fuselage and pointed directly downward to track the ground during flight. This image was acquired on Jan. 27, 2023 (Sol 689 of the Perseverance rover mission) at the local mean solar time of 16:02:45. This was the date of Ingenuity's 41st flight. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›
Flight: 42 Flight date: No earlier than 02/04/2023 Horizontal flight distance: 823 feet (251 meters) Flight time: 137.43 seconds Flight altitude: 33 feet (10 meters) Heading: Northwest Flight speed: 6.7 mph (3 meters per second) Goal of flight: Reposition of the helicopter
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January 24, 2023
 Flight 41 Preview – By the Numbers
 Written by NASA/JPL
Mars surface image from rover
Mars Helicopter Sol 681 - Navigation Camera: NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter acquired this image using its navigation camera. This camera is mounted in the helicopter's fuselage and pointed directly downward to track the ground during flight. This image was acquired on Jan. 19, 2023 (Sol 681 of the Perseverance rover mission) at the local mean solar time of 16:52:08. This was the date of Ingenuity's 40th flight. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Download image ›
Flight: 41 Flight date: No earlier than 01/25/2023 Horizontal flight distance (nominal, w/ max divert): 587 feet (179 meters) Flight time: 103.57 seconds Flight altitude: 33 feet (10 meters) Heading: Out to North West and return Flight speed: 6.7 mph (3 meters per second) Goal of flight: Scouting
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January 17, 2023
 Flight 40 Preview – By the Numbers
 Written by NASA/JPL
Mars surface image from rover
Ingenuity at 'Airfield J': Ingenuity sits on a slightly inclined surface with about 6-degree tilt at the center of the frame, just north of the southern ridge of “Séíitah” geologic unit. The Perseverance rover’s Mastcam-Z instrument took this image on Dec. 1, 2021, when the rotorcraft was about 970 feet (295 meters) away. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS. Download image ›
Flight: 40 Flight date: No earlier than 01/19/2023 Horizontal flight distance:  561 feet (171 meters) Flight time:  85.21 seconds Flight altitude: 33 feet (10 meters)  Heading: North West Flight speed: 7.2 mph (3.2 meters per second) Goal of flight: Reposition of the helicopter
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About This Blog

These blog updates are provided by the Mars Helicopter team. The Mars Helicopter is a technology demonstration to test the first powered flight on Mars.

Dates of planned test activities are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays, helicopter and/or rover status.

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Contributors+

  • Ben Morrell
    Ingenuity Operations Engineer, NASA/JPL
  • Bob Balaram
    Chief Engineer for the Mars Helicopter Project, NASA/JPL
  • David Agle
    Media Representative, NASA/JPL
  • Håvard Grip
    Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Chief Pilot, NASA/JPL
  • Jaakko Karras
    Ingenuity Chief Engineer, NASA/JPL
  • Josh Ravich
    Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Mechanical Engineering Lead, NASA/JPL
  • Joshua Anderson
    Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Operations Lead, NASA/JPL
  • Martin Cacan
    Ingenuity Pilot, NASA/JPL
  • MiMi Aung
    Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Project Manager, NASA/JPL
  • Teddy Tzanetos
    Ingenuity Team Lead, NASA/JPL
  • Travis Brown
    Chief Engineer Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, NASA/JPL

Where is the Mars Helicopter?

Image of a rover pin-point at Perseverance's location on Mars, Jezero Crater

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Raw Images

Image taken by Ingenuity Helicopter on Mars

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